Glee Powerhouse Amber Riley

The one and only Mercedes Jones herself is on the pod!

Amber Riley joins Jenna and Kevin for a laugh-out-loud good time, full of behind-the-scenes scoops, including dropping a major bomb ... Mercedes was supposed to lose her virginity to Sam on the show! Say what?!! She shares why that ended up not happening, why she walked off the set during the MJ Tribute episode, and an inside look at how some of her iconic riffs on the show came to be.

Plus, what Amber really thinks about "Samcedes," a hilarious story on how "Game of Thrones" almost killed her voice, and scoop on her new movie "Single Black Female 2: Simone's Revenge" premiering Saturday, 3/2 at 8/7c on Lifetime!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
And That's what you really missed with Jenna.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
And Kevin an iHeartRadio podcast.

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome to and That's what You Really miss podcast. I
am Jenna, I am Kevin.

Speaker 3 (00:16):
We are recovering from laugh attack, and we are here
because there's more laughs to be helped.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Oh my god, Amber Riley is here. We just thought
her for over an hour. She does left the studio.
I've never cried laughed more in my life.

Speaker 4 (00:32):
Kevin ran away at one point he was so moved.

Speaker 2 (00:35):
Is so moved?

Speaker 1 (00:37):
Well, I mean, she speaks for herself.

Speaker 3 (00:39):
She's an Olivia winner, She's Mercedes Jones.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
She is the voice of our generation.

Speaker 4 (00:45):
Correct, it's miss Amber Riley.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
You guys, we have a special guest, the one, the
only Mercedes joke.

Speaker 4 (00:58):
She's here. I'm alive.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
She's barely hanging on, but here, week here.

Speaker 4 (01:06):
And is making her round. It is Grammy.

Speaker 5 (01:10):
We all to know who the responsible one is because
when I said I was hungover, brought coconut water.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
Smart one, not her first rodeo.

Speaker 5 (01:17):
Liquid Ivy, I'm a mom and Kevin offered champagne.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
Well, mine was hair, the hair of the dog. I
wasn't sure if you wanted to keep the.

Speaker 5 (01:28):
Dog is supposed to be like like hard liquor or beer.

Speaker 4 (01:32):
I don't think it's supposed to be.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
You could have requested that.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
Where did that even come?

Speaker 2 (01:35):
Like champagne was an easier drink.

Speaker 5 (01:40):
I can't drink champagne. It hurts my stomach. Really the
dog until Glee when we did the and when you
say hair of the dog yoke, I was like, what
does that even mean?

Speaker 2 (01:54):
I didn't know what it meant either, I said, looked
it up, like what does this mean?

Speaker 4 (01:59):
That's fine?

Speaker 2 (01:59):
Because I had heard it. I got a text remember
this morning, being like, I just want you to know
how much I love you guys, because I haven't slept
since Saturday.

Speaker 4 (02:11):
Key, she lost her keys.

Speaker 6 (02:13):
It's Wednesday's windy, It's wed It's only Wednesday.

Speaker 1 (02:23):
Yes, it's Wednesday.

Speaker 3 (02:25):
Do you have other Grammy parties? You have to get
good good every day? Oh my good every day. I'm
tired for you.

Speaker 2 (02:35):
You look great?

Speaker 4 (02:36):
Yeah you do.

Speaker 2 (02:37):
That's infuriating. This is the worst I slept and I
don't look I just you.

Speaker 3 (02:43):
Know, hydrate, yeah, with Hennessy and then and then coconut water.

Speaker 5 (02:49):
Oh wait, are we going to talk about me taking
you out and making you drink.

Speaker 4 (02:53):
Yeah at like two o'clock.

Speaker 2 (02:57):
Take me out on a Monday night, no night, and
I'm like, okay, we go to a concert. She introduced
me to Jesse Ware and I was wow, big Jesseware fan.
They're friends and have worked together. Is that sure it's
still airing in the UK right now?

Speaker 4 (03:12):
By the way, No, it's over.

Speaker 3 (03:14):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (03:14):
I literally just shot the finale like a month ago.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
How was it? It was good you live in Greece
for I did.

Speaker 5 (03:22):
I had to live in Greece for over a month.
It was really it was really relaxing, Like.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
Are they slower that everything?

Speaker 4 (03:29):
Well, we were on a.

Speaker 5 (03:30):
We were on a more quiet island. We weren't on
one of the more like you know, like we were
like atartment islands. Okay, we weren't really on the party.
I mean we found the parties, but like it, you know,
but it was it was needed.

Speaker 4 (03:45):
I really enjoyed the slow pace. Honestly.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
Has the response been good to it?

Speaker 5 (03:49):
Yeah, it's been really really good. People have have enjoyed it.
You know, I'm always like really scared to show my
actual personality.

Speaker 4 (04:02):
That's not amer Amber un filtered. Everybody don't like it.

Speaker 2 (04:07):
Yeah, but that's their problem. That's their problem.

Speaker 4 (04:09):
That's my favorite.

Speaker 5 (04:12):
I don't like it, but you know, I'm being more
and more, more and more myself and I was like,
I guess.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
People, there's no way to yourself around.

Speaker 4 (04:22):
Oh yeah, No.

Speaker 5 (04:23):
I honestly had an amazing time with everyone that was
on that stage, like they're really like. We hung out
out outside and Samantha Barkston was on the show. She
was actually pregnant the whole time and nobody knew, Wow,
she just had her baby, literally just had her baby.
But she's but like no one knew, and we all
like kind of like mam averted her, like wanted to

(04:44):
protect her because like nobody knew, but we knew, like.

Speaker 4 (04:47):
Can get her some water, can get her blanket like
she was.

Speaker 5 (04:49):
Like, but I really enjoyed working with him, Like I
would love to work with him again because everyone was
just like stars.

Speaker 2 (04:59):
So we went to Jesse Ware concert and Amber's like,
I'm gonna go to my friends carryo, We're gonna go
do karaoke. Do you want to come do karaoke?

Speaker 1 (05:06):
Well that's the way to get them to me, that's
the way to get them.

Speaker 2 (05:09):
And I was like, Okay, where is it.

Speaker 1 (05:10):
She's like two blocks away.

Speaker 2 (05:12):
So Austin and I we're down and I haven't seen
Amber in a while. I was like, cool, it's a club.
It's a club.

Speaker 4 (05:19):
No, it wasn't not karaoke.

Speaker 2 (05:21):
It was okay, But the difference is it wasn't like
we're going to a private room, you know karaoke like
in Koreatown. It is public and everyone could sing.

Speaker 4 (05:30):
It was it a live band. It was a live band.
It was tracks.

Speaker 5 (05:34):
It was a DJ and a live bancer's piano, drums,
bas like and.

Speaker 2 (05:39):
Host of the whole night.

Speaker 5 (05:41):
So this is I'm a plug them. This is Monday
Night vibes at Station sixteen forty on Kuenga. I go
there pretty much every Monday. There's my cheers like that,
that's my cheers. Like all of my friends. We want
to relax and like chill out. We go there ow
Monday nights.

Speaker 2 (05:55):
Okay, And if you want to feel famous walking with
Amber in that.

Speaker 1 (05:58):
Place, oh, I'm sure anywhere with it was hilarious.

Speaker 2 (06:02):
I was like, I feel like this is twenty ten.
I walked in there and it was just like the
sea parted and we got Monday night. You guys at
like ten PM and then and I was like, what
do you want to drink? I'm like, how about she's
having She's like she turned her head so fast. She's like, well,
I'm happy.

Speaker 4 (06:22):
Are you sure?

Speaker 2 (06:26):
I was like I will yes. And then they asked
my mixer, what did you do? I said diet coke?
And it was like it was like the music cut.
Everyone's stuck, and the waitress and emers started laughing like
they're trying to be really nice about it, and the
waitress like, I don't know if we have diet coke
in this entire place.

Speaker 1 (06:49):
What would you mix with?

Speaker 2 (06:50):
Tennessee regular coke?

Speaker 4 (06:52):
Okay, okay, that coke? We literally like.

Speaker 2 (06:57):
Yeah, I was like the white and gay Really she
found one though she did?

Speaker 4 (07:05):
How was that?

Speaker 2 (07:07):
I had a great time? So it was okay, And
it was like it was like my place. It was
all They played several one twelve songs. Yes, like you
know that.

Speaker 4 (07:19):
We had a Brian Michael Cox night on Monday.

Speaker 2 (07:22):
See, I want to go to a place that's having
a Brian Michael Cox.

Speaker 5 (07:24):
He was there, like he was up on stage singing
all of the songs that he has produced.

Speaker 4 (07:29):
He literally produced my whole entire day.

Speaker 2 (07:31):
Do you remember there was like a ten year period
or it was just Brian Michael.

Speaker 5 (07:36):
Cox And now like the recent stuff that he's done,
like the moneylong song that go the area nobody know me,
like he produced that pressure but pressure, and like he
he has produced my whole entire life. And he was
there on stage and they made me go up there
and sing. I was sad because I was so horse guys.

Speaker 2 (07:55):
Okay, first of all.

Speaker 1 (07:57):
Well, worst day is somebody's my best.

Speaker 5 (08:00):
I was so mad though, because he was like, come
on Amber. I was like, bro, please something to see.
I'm gonna drinking all night.

Speaker 2 (08:08):
Because he knows the amount of times I told people.
I was like, yeah, Amber was on vocal rest. And
she showed up and still saying in rehearsal, sitting crosslegged
on the stage and nailed beautiful, like get out of here.
There's no oh, I can't no.

Speaker 3 (08:24):
I don't know about Amber on vocal rest. Though, how
long does it last? She says, I'm on vocals Like.

Speaker 4 (08:30):
Okay, very true.

Speaker 5 (08:31):
I had to do a three week vocal rest from
an injury, and I, when I tell you, it was hell.

Speaker 4 (08:38):
Hell. I had a little board and like, yeah.

Speaker 5 (08:41):
I'm like writing I couldn't write stuff fast enough, and
like I had so many funny things that I wanted
to say, Like timing was important. I just couldn't write.

Speaker 4 (08:55):
The funchline was gone. She saw it.

Speaker 2 (08:59):
She's a commune clean. Wait did you have when you
did dream Girls? Because that show is obviously the hardest.

Speaker 4 (09:09):
Yes yes of all time?

Speaker 2 (09:11):
Yeah? How did you not speak in between shows?

Speaker 4 (09:15):
I couldn't like, how did I really?

Speaker 2 (09:17):
Did you actually not speak the first time?

Speaker 5 (09:19):
Okay, so this was my first time ever doing anything
like this, right, it was very much so a learning curve.

Speaker 4 (09:24):
It's like, oh no, you really literally have to shut
up life.

Speaker 5 (09:28):
Yeah, like you have a show like so my I'm
gonna tell you how Game of Thrones broke my.

Speaker 4 (09:40):
Yes, my best friend came down to see me. I said.

Speaker 5 (09:43):
He literally was there for like maybe twelve days. Remember
we went to go see the friends. The friends there Karen, Yes, Karen.
So I literally told him, Okay, this week we can
hang out whatever, because I had like a lot of
time off. But I said, next week, I have to
be quiet. I'm not gonna talk to you much. I'm
just we're literally going to be passing strangers. So the

(10:03):
first week I kind of entertained him. The next week,
he was like entertaining himself until I watched that goddamn episode.
I screamed a blood curdling screams to where he ran
into it like he thought somebody was trying to kill
me because what Yes, it broke my girl.

Speaker 2 (10:24):
But that's the reason. Yeah, I was not expecting. When
I watched that, I I I blacked out. The next thing,
I was standing like holding my if you.

Speaker 5 (10:39):
Were there, my mom and my sisters. That's me and
my mom and my sisters are how we bonded. While
I was in the UK, we watched Game of Thrones
and we will call and talk about it, and like,
I watched it after them and they were like, you haven't.

Speaker 4 (10:54):
Watched the episode yet. They were like, let's just not
let's just not talk.

Speaker 5 (10:56):
I was like, why is everybody Like they were like,
let's just talking because I knew that somebody was gonna
go everything like.

Speaker 1 (11:07):
That like that, Wow, it's a change TV.

Speaker 2 (11:12):
It is forever.

Speaker 5 (11:13):
I thought I thought Shonda Rhymes was a bully. Ryme
doesn't give a she will.

Speaker 4 (11:19):
Kill ruthless, ruthless everybody.

Speaker 1 (11:22):
But they really killed them all in one.

Speaker 4 (11:24):
They killed them all in ones. I was just like
a whole bloodline.

Speaker 3 (11:26):
Wow.

Speaker 4 (11:27):
Isn't that wow?

Speaker 3 (11:28):
Wow?

Speaker 2 (11:29):
I've never recovered from that neither.

Speaker 4 (11:31):
I was very iconic. Okay, so let's talk about a
little bit.

Speaker 3 (11:45):
Because I think we should statistically remember podcasts.

Speaker 1 (11:48):
You don't have to remember.

Speaker 2 (11:50):
Do you remember meeting us?

Speaker 4 (11:52):
I do, I remember. I remember Jenna.

Speaker 5 (11:59):
Jenna was pretty quiet. I feel like you're pretty quiet.

Speaker 4 (12:05):
Kevin.

Speaker 5 (12:06):
I already knew who you were because my sister, Remember
my sister came into the first rehearsal with me.

Speaker 4 (12:15):
She drove.

Speaker 5 (12:16):
She drove me because I wasn't driving it, so my
mom and my sisters were always.

Speaker 4 (12:19):
With me, that's right. And she goes, that's the guy
from NLT.

Speaker 5 (12:23):
Actually, no, dead she knew, she knew, and so I,
you know, just walked up and said hi, and like,
of course, chatty Kathy over here.

Speaker 4 (12:31):
Kenny was very chatty. Yeah, super chatty.

Speaker 5 (12:33):
And then I remember this was the first time you
guys heard me saying, yeah, he's saying the piano.

Speaker 4 (12:38):
Kevin was like, what, well, yes, for people don't know.

Speaker 3 (12:42):
We met at our rehearsal was Chris Amember, me and Kevin,
and they started us like they.

Speaker 1 (12:49):
Didn't really know. We didn't know what we were doing.
They didn't know what they were doing.

Speaker 3 (12:52):
So it was like, let's do some vocal warm ups
and let's like everybody sing their audition song or whatever
you auditioned with and at the piano. So we all
kind of just like went around and like sang her you.

Speaker 4 (13:02):
Guys audition songs though that you sang in the show.

Speaker 3 (13:06):
No, okay, mine was supposed to be if I were
a bell from Guys and Dolls, because I was supposed
to look like Artie. I was supposed to like sweater
vests and jeans. And then they changed Tina midway through
because they were like, he looks she looks too much
like Kevin.

Speaker 1 (13:21):
Oh, she looks like a white gay man.

Speaker 4 (13:24):
M hm.

Speaker 2 (13:25):
So we had those quota had been met and succeeded.
I feel drunk, Kevin.

Speaker 4 (13:44):
What wait? Okay, so what was your auditions?

Speaker 2 (13:47):
Got it?

Speaker 4 (13:49):
Let it be okay?

Speaker 5 (13:51):
Yeah you did sing that, and I remember you, I guys,
I remember you guys singing.

Speaker 2 (13:54):
But it's just not Amber went last.

Speaker 3 (13:57):
Yes, of course she did, which was just there like
just leave her for last, don't scare the other.

Speaker 2 (14:01):
Can you imagine? I had to sing sit Down Your
rock in the boat of all. I knew I was fat,
and I'm like, I'm never getting to these notes and
then Amber opens her mouth. We're like, oh, excuse me,
I think we're on different shows.

Speaker 1 (14:16):
I don't think I belonged here.

Speaker 2 (14:18):
I was already wondering how I got the gig, and
I'm now just like I don't know.

Speaker 4 (14:26):
Everybody was cast very perfectly.

Speaker 5 (14:29):
That's part of the reason why the show worked so well.

Speaker 2 (14:33):
It's also you're so soft spoken when you meet people.

Speaker 4 (14:38):
People don't know yes until they know.

Speaker 2 (14:40):
Then you start singing, and it is the craziest like
what how, what how? I don't where did this come from?

Speaker 3 (14:52):
You? You would also said like you would, You didn't
really sing like that.

Speaker 4 (14:56):
Before, you know.

Speaker 5 (14:59):
He literally really traumatized me to sing now I'm kidding.
I had always been like a soft, floatier singer. I'm
classically trained also, so like belt the belty thing, I
could do it, but it's not my preference, Like, that's
not my preference to sing that way. And so when
I did my audition first for Robert Ulrich, I sang

(15:23):
sweet Thing by Chaka Khan, which like is not necessarily
a belty song. But Shaka Khan, Patti LaBelle, Dinah Washington,
like Aretha Franklin, they're mixy singers.

Speaker 3 (15:34):
They're not belty singers. They sound like they're because they
can just hang up.

Speaker 5 (15:37):
They can hang up there. And so that's where my
voice naturally said. And so Robert Ulrich is the one
that said, can you sing? Well, I don't know. And
I was like, well what song?

Speaker 4 (15:49):
You know? He was like what can you sing? And
I'm telling you and I was like, oh my god,
I ain't never saying.

Speaker 3 (15:53):
That shit in my life also, and so I was like, okay,
well I'm just gonna try it.

Speaker 4 (16:01):
And I did.

Speaker 5 (16:02):
I shocked myself, to be honest, I legitimately did.

Speaker 4 (16:05):
That's crazy.

Speaker 5 (16:06):
I shocked myself because I'm not a chesty I'm just
not a chesty singer like that. I don't consider I'm
a mix I'm a mixedy girl. So I sang and
he was just like he took me around to like
all the casting directors and made me and made me
sing for them. He was like, I need you, I
need you to hear this.

Speaker 2 (16:24):
I was insane as that is, and like not fair
for you. I get it.

Speaker 5 (16:29):
I was completely like wait what I was just confusing.
I didn't also hadn't been auditioning for a long This
was my first auditioning audition back since I was like
maybe sixteen. Like, I hadn't been auditioning, so I'm just like, oh, okay,
is this like is it like round one fight? Like
every round I gotta go sing for another? Like I

(16:49):
didn't know what the hell was going on. I don't
know why I was singing for all these people. I
was like, okay, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (16:57):
No, I have no idea, but I think you did
it twice. And then I was like a better recording
of this. I was like, yes, I wonder if I
still have it, like somehow, I don't know if I do.

Speaker 4 (17:09):
I don't know if the cloud existed, but.

Speaker 2 (17:11):
I think the millions of people who have heard you
sing now it's a universal reaction because I don't I
don't know what it is, but your voice, in your
tone and like your technical ability.

Speaker 4 (17:27):
Is just.

Speaker 2 (17:31):
We talked to Adam Anders and he was saying, there
was a time when you were in the studio that
you locked yourself in the closet and you wouldn't.

Speaker 1 (17:39):
Like I'm not doing this I think it wasn't that
I'm telling you or you're like I'm not coming out.

Speaker 5 (17:42):
No, I think it was uh, I had a really
hard time with try a little tenderness. I think it
may have been that one where I was just kind
of just like, I don't want to do this, like
how many? How many more times are you guys going
to Like? I think I did the oh you may
get we like. I did that part fine, but when

(18:05):
it got to the end. I think for also, I
didn't know I had ADHD back then, so it was
very hard for me to organize my thoughts and that
song they wanted me to riff and like that song
didn't make sense to me, like the end of it,
what they wanted me to do, I couldn't do what
he did because it's it's for first of all, it's
a man's song. Yeah, and my voice is so high,

(18:28):
and I think I was just like confused because nobody
was really giving me direction. They were just kind of
just like, yeah, just going there and sing, and I
was just like okay.

Speaker 4 (18:39):
When it got to that point, I was just.

Speaker 5 (18:40):
Like I just didn't I didn't know what to say,
and it like I didn't I just didn't know, cause.

Speaker 2 (18:49):
You have to know to do that. You also have
to know the song in and out and backwards, and.

Speaker 4 (18:54):
Also really saying anything.

Speaker 5 (19:00):
He's not saying anything, and I'm like, I don't know what.
I don't know what you guys want me to do? No,
And I'm telling you my legs went out and I
I don't remember locking myself in the closet.

Speaker 4 (19:10):
I don't think I locked myself in the closet. I
think maybe I would.

Speaker 1 (19:12):
Like I had to bribe Amber.

Speaker 5 (19:14):
I think I maybe went to like the lobby and
was like, yea, I don't want to do that.

Speaker 3 (19:20):
You just see Amber running away. I could see her
like running right now.

Speaker 5 (19:23):
I was really like real first, some of those some
of those sessions were very frustrating.

Speaker 4 (19:27):
I'm sure super frustrating.

Speaker 1 (19:31):
Did they expect a lot of you to like just
show up?

Speaker 5 (19:33):
And I think that I just was maybe not even
their expectation. Maybe my own expectation was to perform at
a certain level all the time. And yeah, and I
think it just sometimes the pressure and then and then
you know, we didn't always get feedback that it was good.
You know, it was just kind of like, hey, get

(19:53):
in there and do your ship and go back to
sex right, you know. So I think I didn't even
know sometimes if I was actually doing a good job
where my marker was you know. Yeah, just it was
just the nature of the show that you just had
to keep ford. You just had to keep moving forward
so much that we had to get done all the time,
and so not there was there couldn't be a lot
of handholding.

Speaker 2 (20:14):
I also feel like they could just let you go
in there and be like, yeah, yea, do it, like
figure it out. Like with us, it was mapped out completely,
like we had no freedom problem for the best, no, no,
thefore I had a meltdown. I'm like, I don't know.

Speaker 5 (20:29):
Yeah, I think in the beginning I had a lot
more freedom towards the end because it did need to
be more of a train, you know, the scheduled stops
if you will. Yes, I think there was a little
bit more structure, which then that started frustrating me because
it was like, you have to do it exactly like
the demo, and I'm like, but my voice is not

(20:50):
her voice, Like I want to do it my own
way so I can feel it. So it was definitely
a balance. It was definitely a balance.

Speaker 2 (20:57):
Because you came up with somebody to love. Yeah, big moment,
like that was your idea you did?

Speaker 1 (21:04):
Were you there when she did that?

Speaker 5 (21:06):
Also when I did a sweet trans best site, did
you They didn't know what to do when I came
in there.

Speaker 4 (21:13):
They thought I was gonna do it like.

Speaker 2 (21:16):
UH supposed to.

Speaker 5 (21:19):
It was just like how you do? I said, I'm
gonna do this ship like Tina Turner. I said, what
if I just go? I said, I'm gonna do like
Shaka and Tina. What if I just know last see
you mana like? Because in my mind it made sense,
But I was like, I don't know tone wise if
this is gonna make sense when I actually sing.

Speaker 1 (21:39):
It right right? Yeah, wow wow.

Speaker 2 (21:42):
Speechless because that version is so favorite.

Speaker 5 (21:47):
Me and Anna was just like I started recording it
low and I was like, it's not right.

Speaker 4 (21:51):
It just doesn't.

Speaker 5 (21:52):
It feels boring, like it's not as exciting as a
dumb dumb and it doesn't feel charactery, like I didn't
feel like I was in a character. I just kind
of felt like I was like imitating. And I was
like what if I like, we started just talking and
I was like, what if we do it more?

Speaker 4 (22:09):
Like a rocker.

Speaker 5 (22:11):
A rocker kind of like feel like a Shaka con
because she's funk, you know.

Speaker 3 (22:16):
So yeah, oh my gosh, I can't even imagine it.
You doing it the Tim Curry way now, I mean
you're like, neither can I.

Speaker 4 (22:23):
Yeah, that's why.

Speaker 2 (22:25):
Yeah, you're right, you just do you it did.

Speaker 4 (22:27):
Not What was your favorite?

Speaker 3 (22:29):
So, I mean you're saying I'm literally so many songs.
I'm curious, like what was your favorite saying? Or like,
what is your favorite one?

Speaker 4 (22:36):
My favorite final production?

Speaker 5 (22:38):
My favorite song surprisingly two actually that I actually recorded
was Don't Make Me Over by Diane Woman.

Speaker 2 (22:46):
It's my favorite.

Speaker 1 (22:47):
That is such a surprise, but I get it.

Speaker 5 (22:51):
I absolutely just love where my voice sat in it,
and I love that I got to.

Speaker 4 (22:57):
Really show Yeah, you're type of singing, but my type.

Speaker 5 (23:01):
It's my type of singing. Also tell him that Kevin
finally sent to be asking for that song for years.

Speaker 4 (23:10):
She'll upset that song never aired.

Speaker 1 (23:12):
It was so.

Speaker 5 (23:16):
It was so freaking good on that song. She's likely
showed us up on that.

Speaker 1 (23:23):
I'm sad that we never did that.

Speaker 3 (23:25):
We were supposed to be go moving across the football
field and slow motion. We recorded that and and then
Amber dm me the other day of a version somebody
was singing, somebody else was saying. She's like, I need
to hear this Glee version, our version of this, and
I was like, Amber Kevin has it. And then she
told me, yeah, I thought you had a good one.

Speaker 2 (23:47):
Because I've said it so much publicly, they know it's
going to come from me.

Speaker 1 (23:50):
I know they keep asking to hear all the week.

Speaker 2 (23:53):
So bad sounds so good together.

Speaker 5 (23:56):
Sound voices are so different. Our voices blended really well.
But when everyone stood out, they still you know, you
knew who was singing.

Speaker 2 (24:05):
There's a part on the song.

Speaker 4 (24:08):
Exactly what you're talking about.

Speaker 2 (24:13):
Okay, there's a part of it. So the song. Ever
told me when I first heard it, She's like, I'm
going to do my best white girl. Hey, and she did.

Speaker 4 (24:27):
You did, but one.

Speaker 2 (24:29):
Part, but there's one part or she goes full Brandy.

Speaker 1 (24:33):
I had.

Speaker 2 (24:40):
And I lost.

Speaker 5 (24:43):
I had to sneak it in and I completely thought
and and and the thing about it I was like
about Adam.

Speaker 4 (24:48):
Adam was just like, can you do it straight? And
I'm like.

Speaker 5 (24:50):
Yeah, I just kept doing it over and over again,
so they had to use it.

Speaker 4 (24:55):
I'm gonna. I'm getting it in so like if you.

Speaker 5 (24:58):
Want to try and do some computery ship to like
make it straight good look, I love that.

Speaker 4 (25:04):
Yeah okay.

Speaker 5 (25:07):
And then eventually I think he just kind of like
gave up because I literally was just like, guess, like
this so.

Speaker 1 (25:13):
Good, like okay, sure, ye yeah yeah yeah.

Speaker 2 (25:15):
Yeah yeah. There's nothing better than like a well placed,
well executed like.

Speaker 3 (25:22):
So it was it was the give me there she is.

Speaker 5 (25:32):
So I wasn't bored singing that in the in the
the studio, but I was just like.

Speaker 1 (25:37):
Give me something.

Speaker 2 (25:39):
It is so good. It is crazy because I don't
know if like you never neither of you really got
to sing that style.

Speaker 4 (25:50):
Very they kind of gave us.

Speaker 5 (25:53):
They kind of gave us like everybody had their lane,
you know what I'm saying. So like we worked with
the story and the character, but I actually love Celine Dione,
I love Barber Streisan like I love you know those singers.

Speaker 1 (26:07):
Let me show you my mature side. Let me show
you my mature my maturity.

Speaker 2 (26:11):
Your voice on that my radio also just fully like dropped.

Speaker 4 (26:17):
But even when we did the God, I miss Jenna's voice.
It's so and it's your voice.

Speaker 5 (26:21):
Is so much more mature now and like your tone
is so beautiful. Like I really enjoyed when you were
recording when we redid when we redid Nayas.

Speaker 4 (26:31):
Song, like did the backs and song. I was like,
oh my god, I'm miss that's the.

Speaker 1 (26:34):
First time I sang.

Speaker 2 (26:37):
Yeah this rasp Now that is like the smokiness that
you didn't used to have.

Speaker 1 (26:43):
I'm tired.

Speaker 4 (26:44):
I'm just I'm tired to your advantage.

Speaker 3 (26:48):
Thank you gotta here's your faus.

Speaker 2 (26:53):
Because we're in the middle of watching season three right now,
and so Sam Sam said in Trouble Tones.

Speaker 3 (27:01):
Oh my god, why okay, why wasn't there spin off
of the Trouble Tones, Because I am we are watching
this and I am like standing the greatest.

Speaker 5 (27:10):
He was so much fun doing that, Like I still
I still watch our Oh no.

Speaker 4 (27:16):
Not I wheel yo.

Speaker 1 (27:22):
Well in the Stronger one, we just watched this.

Speaker 2 (27:25):
You do you do this dance move that is the
opposite of what you're singing like, and I don't know
how you stronger and stronger there's at the end or something.
It's the rhythm of the damn lib and then the
dance shouldn't go together. It was like she's working.

Speaker 3 (27:43):
You got these we must have we must have like
rehearsed that, yeah, because oh yeah, you guys look tight.

Speaker 4 (27:49):
It was really good. It must have really really rehearsed that.
It was so good. Trouble was like that.

Speaker 5 (27:55):
Was like a moment in the show where I was
just like, it was just so much fun being able
to just do that and do that with like a
bunch of women, like kind of like having all those
girls on stage singing together. I don't know, it just
it felt it was just like a different, different feeling. Yeah,
super empowering.

Speaker 2 (28:13):
Yes, it was powerful to watch.

Speaker 4 (28:15):
It was It's my favorite watch.

Speaker 2 (28:18):
I was met like why didn't they have an album?

Speaker 3 (28:20):
I was like, why do I know all this choreography?
And I was like, oh, because we literally were doing you.

Speaker 2 (28:29):
That's like there was there's one shot of Amber in
one of the numbers and there's like a brief panic
in her.

Speaker 4 (28:37):
Eyes because because yeah.

Speaker 2 (28:40):
Poleiicography was so fast and you don't stop singing.

Speaker 3 (28:42):
And I was we were dancing in heels or how
about the time you did River Deep and tour by yourself.
It was running a round stage like a chicken with
my head.

Speaker 1 (28:55):
She was going back and forth.

Speaker 4 (29:02):
I was like, what is happen?

Speaker 2 (29:04):
You have two heads? Two heads a video of Jenna
and I. When you finish the song or you get
through the albums, we like high five each.

Speaker 5 (29:11):
Other each other because because they were just like, we
can't really cut the song because of the timing of
the show, And I was like, what does that have
to do with me?

Speaker 1 (29:26):
Exactly, like it has everything to do with you amber
to do.

Speaker 2 (29:32):
But the thing is, I was expecting you to like
just sing the hook, just sing the end.

Speaker 4 (29:39):
Because she hd brock. I can't separate. I can't separate.
I need to do it.

Speaker 5 (29:45):
If I was gonna do it, what was in my head?
Like it was my part? And then did her part.
In my head, I was going to miss the next
part because I was thinking about her.

Speaker 4 (29:56):
I just do it all.

Speaker 2 (29:57):
She did it all and she crushed it. And I
wheeled myself off that stage. You did I you could not.

Speaker 4 (30:06):
We were I wasn't.

Speaker 2 (30:08):
Acting, knew were on the stage. Was like supporting our friends.
I'm like this, just.

Speaker 4 (30:12):
Like everybody scared.

Speaker 2 (30:14):
Is she going to do it? She got that one?

Speaker 4 (30:17):
Is she going to explode? Oh my god?

Speaker 5 (30:20):
Remember when I turned around. Everybody's like everybody on stage
was like, that's yeah, he did you got through.

Speaker 2 (30:29):
You're an insane person.

Speaker 4 (30:31):
I didn't have a choice. You didn't have a choice.

Speaker 3 (30:43):
Damn, Sadies, everybody has to wants to know about.

Speaker 2 (30:47):
Because I'm like watching it like living through it the
first time. You guys are both great, love you both
watching it now as like a real viewer.

Speaker 4 (30:57):
You was the cutest thing.

Speaker 2 (31:00):
Are adorable court And it's so funny because obviously knowing
you guys in real life, it's very very.

Speaker 4 (31:09):
It is like my son, not even my child.

Speaker 2 (31:14):
But that's why it's so baffling.

Speaker 4 (31:19):
This works so well. I got it. I got it well.

Speaker 5 (31:21):
I think. I think it's because there's genuine love there
and they're genuine friendship and when you when you have that,
it's like that's what you use to kind of create
that that that chemistry.

Speaker 4 (31:32):
You got to find some truth somewhere.

Speaker 3 (31:34):
But people really, they really loved it, and I think
that that's really cute.

Speaker 4 (31:38):
We just wish you guys.

Speaker 2 (31:40):
I know, I didn't realize I was gonna love it
so much.

Speaker 5 (31:43):
I know, I mean to I wouldn't watched it in
such a long time, Like I don't, guys, I remember
some of the scenes, but like I really don't remember
too much, but I know that it was just like
really sweet and you know Court Court is sweet, like
he's just he's just so sweet, and like it was
very much so like his his his character. Yeah, boy, Bambi.

Speaker 3 (32:02):
You guys are in the coffee being the first time
we find out about on sades and you're like, do
you think they saw us? And they're like no, and
then they panned down to you guys like grabbing hands
and your little backpacks like they pull out and You're like,
this is the cutest thing I've ever seen you.

Speaker 5 (32:19):
They never told me that this was going to happen.
I just got this script and I was like, oh, did.

Speaker 1 (32:25):
They ever tell us anything that's gonna happen?

Speaker 2 (32:28):
Was that weird? Though? It was?

Speaker 5 (32:30):
It was my first relationship on TV, like you know,
having to be and like I'm I was very I
was always the kind of person in general where I
was very career focused and greer driven. I didn't date
a lot in general, right, So, like living that out
on television was awkward.

Speaker 4 (32:48):
It was so awkward at first, and.

Speaker 5 (32:50):
Then you don't know what the other person is thinking
and what they feel and like, you know, also being
like a bigger girl, and on television you're not necessarily
always showed in like the slide and.

Speaker 4 (33:00):
Relationships, so like where is this going to go?

Speaker 5 (33:02):
So we did end up having those kind of those
kind of conversations with like Brad and stuff of like
where the story is going to go, because you know,
with our characters, were very not sensitive but protective about
how those characters because it means so much to so
many people, right, so you want to kind of kind
of protect that, you know.

Speaker 4 (33:23):
But I think that they did. I think that they
did a really excellent.

Speaker 2 (33:28):
Yeah, especially when you guys get together and then Chord
disappears for a little bit of the next season. But
when he comes back and you have a boyfriend on
the show, even though it's you know, it's like TV
and are we cheating on my boyfriend's sort of thing,
it still was handled so well. And I think it
also is due to the two of you, you and

(33:51):
Chord being so likable and obviously that real chemistry. I
was like, you know, we did a lot of crazy
things and that storyline could have looked bad, Yeah, and
it was perfect.

Speaker 3 (34:02):
I think I think that they did a really great job,
and even showing high school relationships like they're not that deep.

Speaker 4 (34:09):
They're very surface level, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 5 (34:11):
And people don't really stay together after after high school
and they become different people and they grow and like,
you know all those things.

Speaker 4 (34:19):
There was supposed to be.

Speaker 5 (34:20):
An episode where she lost her virginity to Sam and
I tell Brad absolutely not.

Speaker 2 (34:29):
She said, how did you find out?

Speaker 4 (34:32):
He gave me the blue pages or whatever. I said no,
and he probably said okay.

Speaker 5 (34:41):
He said yeah, he said okay, well what if instead
of because it was like a full blown I'm not
doing it right, and then he said, well what if
we just, you know, have you guys hold hands and
walk to the room and then like close the door.

Speaker 3 (34:56):
And I was just like, no, amazing respect, I'm not
doing it.

Speaker 4 (35:01):
I'm not doing it.

Speaker 5 (35:02):
I don't I don't tell y'all, no, I don't fight anything.
I'm gonna do this. Yeah, it would have been so awkward,
and I feel like it would have read awkward. I
also just feel like, yeah, it just wasn't what my
character would have done. I just I just didn't feel
feel that way right, And so yeah, see.

Speaker 2 (35:23):
It helps you save up those like.

Speaker 3 (35:26):
Nose for yes, pick your battles. Ye, but that yeah,
I agree with you though, Like it just would have
felt like that just another high school couple. Yeah, it
had already been done, right, let her stick to her
guns if that's what she's saying, that.

Speaker 4 (35:42):
She didn't need it. It wasn't necessary for you. Guys
clearly agree. We love you, you know we love I.

Speaker 2 (35:47):
Think that's also a really good point to bring up that,
like we all did protect our characters, like to the
best of our abilities, Like we all thought about all
of these things that might seem minor, like very deeply.
Ye make sure because each of us were presenting some
sort of marginalized group, and it was like, we all
need to make sure we're doing this with the best intention,
we actually care about them.

Speaker 5 (36:08):
And I also knew like with that character like she's
supposed to be, I mean, I grew up the church
girl like that, that it just wouldn't happen like not
at that age, Like you know what I'm saying, Like
not that easily you know, being you know, and then
being pressured and all that kind of stuff. I was like,
it's just and doing it for someone else when it's
not really what you really believe. Like the message I

(36:31):
felt like that that would have said to young girls
wouldn't have been right. Yeah, now, you know, I mean,
I'm inside, I got a man. At one point I
was outside, And that's okay too, That is okay.

Speaker 1 (36:49):
It's your journey.

Speaker 4 (36:51):
It's not mercedes journey.

Speaker 3 (36:52):
It's your journey in her hand.

Speaker 1 (37:00):
I'm old now.

Speaker 2 (37:02):
If they asked me to do that, now, I'd write
the scene for him. You know what, though, I feel like,
as like fans of Mercedes people would notice that too.
If I didn't feel right for you, it also wouldn't
have felt right for the character.

Speaker 1 (37:17):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (37:18):
And so because you've we've all seen shows or movies
when a character does something.

Speaker 4 (37:21):
Like I don't you feel out of character?

Speaker 2 (37:26):
Watch the show for that many years, you do get
some sort of knowledge and feel for what that character is.

Speaker 4 (37:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (37:32):
I feel like the writers also did, like you know,
at least the you know, the Holy Trinity to brad Ryany,
and like they respected that, like we knew our characters
really well. Yeah, And like they have a responsibility to
like take care of all the people, but we have
a responsibility to care of ourselves too, to like speak
up when we believe in something or don't believe in something,
because they have a lot to manage, so you know,

(37:54):
you can kind of get lost in the shuffle.

Speaker 4 (37:58):
Oh my god, there's a lot of fan questions.

Speaker 2 (38:00):
There's so many fan questions really, yeah, every other one
with Sam Sades.

Speaker 4 (38:04):
That is so funny to me.

Speaker 5 (38:07):
Wow, I really need to rewatch my boyfriend.

Speaker 4 (38:11):
I think watched.

Speaker 3 (38:12):
Maybe like two you guys were acting your faces of
episodes and it's.

Speaker 2 (38:17):
Hard to be charming. I think that because we were
so used to so many actors who were just naturally
charming and like to put that in a scene. It's like,
I think such a skill and the two of you
so good, are just like irresistibly charming together.

Speaker 4 (38:33):
It was a lot of respect there too.

Speaker 2 (38:35):
Yeah, so cute. So cut because we're in the middle
of season three, we're talking about how the wheels sort
of fell off for personally, Yeah, because it was the
days had just gotten so long that Michael Jackson episode
had gotten really like that was sort of like the
point where everything that came to a head. To talk
about episode, Yeah, I want to know what your feelings

(38:57):
were around that time, because we've all had like Max
came on, another came on to talk about his scene.
In like the following episode, everyone was and like Damien
joined and Sam Larson joined.

Speaker 4 (39:10):
And it was very disjointed for me.

Speaker 5 (39:14):
I felt I felt very I remember I left. I
That's the first time I ever walked off set. I
left Michael during thriller. Oh yeah, because I was recording.

(39:34):
So I I told him, like, remember you guys learned
to dance a thriller? What that morning, the night before,
the day before, something like that. I was, we were,
we were, if I'm not mistaken, filming like two episodes
at one time. Yes, they had me in the studio
so much. I didn't even I didn't.

Speaker 2 (39:53):
When we were like that rehearsal. It was at high
school and the one in Hollywood we shot auditorium, I
mean the gymnasium stuff. Yeah, we rehearsed up there in
like a random room. We had never done that before.
Because we had.

Speaker 4 (40:07):
Filming so many people, I wasn't there.

Speaker 5 (40:11):
And so the next day I'm like, Okay, well, I
guess I'm just not going to be in like the thriller.
The thriller scene that we were recording in the parking lot.

Speaker 1 (40:21):
Oh, bad, bad, Bad Got Bad.

Speaker 2 (40:27):
Yes, we learned that film.

Speaker 4 (40:28):
We learned that on the day.

Speaker 5 (40:29):
On the day lunch, I was in the studio the
whole time I was shooting my scenes and I was
in the studio. I got back to set and they're
just putting me in my costume for Bad and I'm like, you,
guys know, I don't know. I don't know this dance,
no idea, what's going on. So I get over to

(40:51):
the actual parking lot and they're telling me just run
in and do this, just keep running into the camera
when you think you know so the choreography.

Speaker 4 (41:02):
What what?

Speaker 5 (41:04):
Yes, just running And I'm like what, I've literally been
filming at this point for like fourteen hours.

Speaker 2 (41:14):
Oh yeah, at least.

Speaker 5 (41:15):
Yeah, fourteen fifteen hours. I need to leave and I
had to come back tomorrow. And that day I think
I recorded that Spanish song for Spanish teacher. I feel
like I did am I wrong?

Speaker 1 (41:30):
No, it came after that. I mean it was shortly
after that.

Speaker 5 (41:33):
I sang I saved, Yes, sang that song. They had
no one there that spoke Spanish.

Speaker 2 (41:39):
At the studio.

Speaker 1 (41:40):
Oh no, Amber.

Speaker 4 (41:43):
Oh, but That's what I'm saying.

Speaker 5 (41:45):
Everything was just disjointed and there were so many things
going going on at once that so many, so many
communications were falling through the crack. So when I got there,
I'm like, you got a black girl and.

Speaker 4 (42:00):
A Swede.

Speaker 5 (42:03):
Having to sing a Spanish You think I'm going to
sing the Spanish song and insult a whole entire community
of Spanish people. Get somebody in here to speak Spanish,
remember it and not tim, Get somebody immediately, not damn,

(42:25):
get somebody else that here. Now they had somebody, and
I was like, I just need to know that I'm
pronouncing these words correctly.

Speaker 4 (42:35):
Show of course.

Speaker 2 (42:37):
Wow, what it was about it was I think everything
was like everyone was there was no capacity for anything extra.
And then like the episodes, like the Michael episode had
a billion songs in it and billion dance numbers, and
like we're just at capacity.

Speaker 5 (42:53):
We're at capacity, and we we weren't getting direction in
that we were it was just like going.

Speaker 1 (42:59):
And do because nobody had the time to.

Speaker 5 (43:02):
Nobody had the time to say anything. Like it was
just I mean, it ended up being cool, but like
it was that's that that I felt it the most
during that episode where I was just like, there is
so much going on, I have no idea what I'm doing. So,
like I said, there couldn't be a lot of hand holding.
Even when I left, they didn't even know.

Speaker 2 (43:18):
That I left the house, didn't even notice, which is wild,
Like that's how you know.

Speaker 4 (43:22):
It was really late. That's why that's why I left.
I was like, they have no idea that I'm here,
They have no clue. I'm insane.

Speaker 5 (43:31):
And that was one of Grant's first and I think
I did. I think when I got to base camp,
I was like, you know, just let them let them
know I'm going home.

Speaker 4 (43:41):
Yeah, And I think that they took there, you know what,
She's had a day.

Speaker 2 (43:44):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (43:46):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (43:46):
There were a couple of times where you, I think,
because so much was asked of you in that way.
There was another time, a couple of seasons later, and
we were filming I don't know if Skyler was there,
we were filming something and you might have been sick
as well, and you were just like, unless you really
need me in this scene, please let me go. Yeah,

(44:06):
And I think Brad was like, yeah, just yeah.

Speaker 4 (44:09):
Because if I'm if I'm just sitting here, yeah.

Speaker 2 (44:11):
Yeah, yeah, that's there's a billion of us, Yeah, like
show one of us two times instead of one.

Speaker 4 (44:17):
Literally shoot around, yeah we're okay.

Speaker 5 (44:20):
Well, but you know it did have to be that
way because the thing and the thing about it is
the squeaky will really does get the oil. So and
like I am not a complainer, and I'm not usually
the one that like I advocate for myself, but like, yeah,
I can take a lot, yeah I'm saying.

Speaker 4 (44:36):
But when it got really really bad, I was just
like I gotta go. I have to go. Please let
me go, you know, please let me go. And they
they were gracious enough to be like, okay, members asking it.

Speaker 2 (44:45):
Probably yeah, it's like we don't want to amber here
cranky and probably you know you really don't.

Speaker 4 (44:49):
You don't.

Speaker 5 (44:49):
You don't want me hungry, you don't want to and
you don't want me hot or tired, and you don't
want me sleeping.

Speaker 2 (44:57):
You aleep a couple of.

Speaker 4 (44:58):
Times sleep on camera. I literally.

Speaker 5 (45:01):
I was not you guys are assholes too, because they
you guys pushed in on my face.

Speaker 4 (45:07):
And I was just like she was just and all
I quiet, and when I was like this and the.

Speaker 5 (45:15):
Cameras like right here, and I'm like, yeah, you ain't shit,
y'all couldn't let me take my little cat nap.

Speaker 4 (45:22):
The camera was not even.

Speaker 3 (45:24):
Remember the games we used to play, the kill game
where we blink Chris was.

Speaker 4 (45:30):
We have to die. Oh my gosh, it's.

Speaker 1 (45:32):
My favorite, one of my favorite times.

Speaker 4 (45:34):
I remember that and you have to die. I think
we saw they caught one of it.

Speaker 5 (45:40):
Remember when we when we are drinking games at the
Golden Globes, like a war shows.

Speaker 3 (45:44):
Somebody wearing a tie instead of a bow tie or
they said, I.

Speaker 2 (45:49):
Don't think I was a part of those I was
on the other side of the table.

Speaker 4 (45:52):
Oh cavin, No, you were at the table.

Speaker 2 (45:54):
I was at the table.

Speaker 4 (45:55):
You were at the table.

Speaker 3 (45:56):
You played with us was probably dun Yeah, yeah, anybody anytime,
like somebody said like or forgot somebody on the in
the speech every time we drank every time time.

Speaker 4 (46:08):
Pretty much it was for really really fun though. Yea
and long golden longst say it.

Speaker 2 (46:14):
There was champaign.

Speaker 5 (46:15):
At least say a champagne the Zaga words. At least
say in the Champagneyeah. I mean they give it to
you right when you walk in because they.

Speaker 1 (46:20):
Emmys, the Emmys.

Speaker 2 (46:22):
Nothing there's alcohol again, Oh really found.

Speaker 3 (46:25):
Out we snuffed flasks and when they weren't serving alcohol
for warm vodka vodka, yummy, yummy, so long like the
Daily Show wins.

Speaker 4 (46:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (46:40):
I also loved that, like your family was always around.

Speaker 1 (46:44):
In the show.

Speaker 5 (46:45):
My mom was in the choir a lot. My sister's
in the choir a lot, like my god sisters, my cousins.
Like anytime they needed somebody in the choir, I will
always call, Like my friends. One was king Yon Dixon,
who's Grammy nominated this year, nominee this year. And I've
known Kenyon since he was like eighteen, you know, seventeen.
We used to sneak him in clubs crazy to come

(47:08):
to come in and sing. And now he's a Grammy
nominee and this is second Grammy nomination, but this is
his first individual Grammy for his song that he wrote
Wow himself. So yeah, and he was on, he was
he was in the choir, him and his sister, we
were in the choir like a couple of times.

Speaker 4 (47:25):
Oh my gosh. The show.

Speaker 2 (47:27):
It was a family affair, like your family felt like
our family, yeah, because none of our families were here
in LA and they'd come around and obviously.

Speaker 5 (47:36):
The drinking came to say she was there when we
did Survivor.

Speaker 4 (47:44):
That's right. She was on set that all the.

Speaker 2 (47:45):
Kids, like my nieces and nephews would come.

Speaker 5 (47:47):
Every time I see them, I'm like, I spent Christmas.
She's not this past one, but the last last Christmas
with Kevin's family and just seeing them, I'm like, you
guys are not kids, isn't it.

Speaker 1 (48:00):
Grown adults in their twenties. Yeah, insane. It is really
hard to see it is.

Speaker 2 (48:06):
All those kids are on the set with us.

Speaker 1 (48:08):
Yes, like children, just dancing around.

Speaker 2 (48:11):
They'll talk about memory, like they'll say, like you remember
when you guys did this number?

Speaker 1 (48:16):
They remember that?

Speaker 2 (48:17):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (48:17):
Wow?

Speaker 4 (48:18):
Yeah, Jack was so cool.

Speaker 2 (48:20):
He was he's still cool.

Speaker 4 (48:21):
He was like the coolest key.

Speaker 1 (48:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (48:23):
I don't know.

Speaker 4 (48:24):
Rose was crazy. Rose is crazy. She was always She.

Speaker 1 (48:29):
Is wild, wild, wild. Make sure this episode we love Rose.

Speaker 3 (48:36):
She's just are like so tight now too.

Speaker 1 (48:41):
That's crazy, that's crazy.

Speaker 4 (48:43):
That was a chaotic Christmas.

Speaker 2 (48:44):
Because I don't put up Oh my gosh.

Speaker 3 (48:47):
Yeah yeah, well Kevin facetimeed me and there's Amber's face
that I'm like, yeah, I don't know either.

Speaker 2 (48:53):
Like are you here? What is happening?

Speaker 4 (48:57):
Literally like fifteen minutes away too?

Speaker 3 (48:59):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (48:59):
Oh my god, you go back you were with your family, Like,
I don't know if I can do this another day.

Speaker 1 (49:05):
And there's a few fan questions that I want to.

Speaker 3 (49:12):
Okay, so somebody said, how's your back doing after carrying
all those belting notes for years on the show?

Speaker 4 (49:19):
That's my favorite one. First one, I see a chiropractice. Yes,
yes you should, Yes you should. That is funny.

Speaker 2 (49:30):
Do you have a favorite outfit? You were.

Speaker 4 (49:35):
Crazy?

Speaker 3 (49:35):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (49:35):
Those she was designing all that those outfits were.

Speaker 2 (49:41):
I wish they continued more with that storyline. It was
like mentioned in the pilot.

Speaker 4 (49:44):
It was just yeah, it was too hard.

Speaker 5 (49:46):
They had to like were they had to start like
designing everything, and like I had to come in.

Speaker 4 (49:50):
I had too many fittings. It was just becoming it
a lot.

Speaker 5 (49:53):
Yeah, I can't really remember anything like specifically, but there
was a time where I was really obsessed with creative
recreation sneakers. That's why they got me, like all of them,
and so that was really cool.

Speaker 2 (50:08):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (50:08):
The Quin Sades friendship in season one is loved by many.
Is there a storyline you wish wasn't discontinued?

Speaker 4 (50:17):
A storyline was like Quinn, I don't know, I don't know.

Speaker 3 (50:21):
I actually just want to talk about quin Sades for
a second, because like that was such a sweet relationship.

Speaker 1 (50:27):
It didn't it didn't like pan out past like season one.

Speaker 3 (50:31):
Yeah, just like the baby disappeared exactly, and thank goodness
for that.

Speaker 4 (50:36):
Never talked to beautiful when you had that.

Speaker 3 (50:42):
You know that that episode with Paris and Quinn comes
in and talks to you in the nurse stuff.

Speaker 1 (50:46):
It's it's so great, it's such a great scene.

Speaker 4 (50:48):
Yeah, there were some tender moments. There was some tinder
moments there.

Speaker 2 (50:51):
Yeah, who made you break character the most?

Speaker 4 (50:54):
Chris.

Speaker 2 (50:59):
I try to convin and I don't know if I
do a good job of it of how he could
do that even in the most subtle way, subtle way
and in the most serious scenes.

Speaker 4 (51:09):
I got into so much trouble from laughing when he
was talking about they gluted the lawn chairs.

Speaker 1 (51:13):
I was just gonna bring it up.

Speaker 3 (51:15):
So we're like shooting the pilot. We hadn't been around
for very long. This is one of the first things
we did together. And he's talking about gluing the stuff
on the room and Amber.

Speaker 4 (51:22):
I couldn't hear.

Speaker 5 (51:24):
I couldn't thought it was the way he was delivering
it every single time it made me laugh.

Speaker 4 (51:31):
So they grew with the lawnchair. Just first of all,
it's a ridiculous line.

Speaker 3 (51:37):
It's ridiculous, it's so monotized, it's so ridiculous. But I
remember not not like having to look at like the
ceiling tiles to like get myself out of it, because
it was so bad.

Speaker 4 (51:47):
And it was like our first yeah.

Speaker 5 (51:49):
First, our first time like really on a set and
doing whatever, and so like I didn't know how to
not laugh or like I really tried my best with
the more that I tried to suppressed the laughter, the
worst they got.

Speaker 4 (52:02):
And I was the only one laughing. I got in trouble,
but you kept getting us. You would start and then
we would.

Speaker 3 (52:08):
Laugh and really are But then doing two thousand and nine,
remember we were doing two thousand and nine and the finale,
and we were all dressed like that and looking like that,
and we couldn't keep it together either.

Speaker 2 (52:20):
In the aim we were all and she was keeping
a straight face.

Speaker 4 (52:27):
Yeah, she was really good.

Speaker 5 (52:28):
She no, because there was a moment and then there
was also some day some days we were just delirious
like we have been filming for However, many hours and
then you know, we we had we all had our
inside jokes like we had.

Speaker 4 (52:44):
There was just like so.

Speaker 5 (52:45):
Many, so many variables to why even like Brad and
then we'll be making like Brad and Ryan like everybody
kind of was like always in on the joke and
had to somebody had to be the parent and one
way and we were all the kids.

Speaker 1 (52:59):
All the especially we're ring.

Speaker 3 (53:02):
That laugh comes from the village and you're like, I
made r laugh. I yes, it's like doping laugh.

Speaker 5 (53:10):
Oh my god, yeah, good times, good times.

Speaker 2 (53:15):
What was your favorite Trouble Tone song?

Speaker 4 (53:17):
How many do we have? What were what were they?

Speaker 5 (53:19):
The Adel Survivor Stronger, Candy Man, Kenny Man Man, that
was the Kenny Man. The harmonies on that and Crazy.
The harmonies on that were crazy. And Nya was singing.

Speaker 2 (53:36):
I mean, the best part about Trouble Tones was that
it was just more you guys, songs for you and
sing together.

Speaker 5 (53:43):
Because my favorite, my favorite, some of my favorite moments
was was being able to sing with her because she
could keep it.

Speaker 2 (53:51):
Yeah, she could, she could keep up.

Speaker 4 (53:53):
She gets you running too.

Speaker 1 (53:55):
She was the only one she could say, she was
the only.

Speaker 5 (53:58):
One she could sing. She could she could, she could
sang her ass off. So I really loved singing with Night.

Speaker 3 (54:13):
How was it going from singing dream Girls on Glee
to starring in It? Was there any like transition or
was it weird or did you have any space between?

Speaker 5 (54:20):
So Dina's character name was Dina Jones, and there was
a moment.

Speaker 2 (54:29):
Oh my god.

Speaker 5 (54:31):
For some reason while I was on the show, I just,
I literally will always be like, Okay, there's this part
where I have to be like really exciting because I'm
calling her mom and I go miss Jones. And I
always would be afraid that I was gonna say Mercedes Jones,
like because that was just so ingrained in my head.
And so there was one time Miss Jones and in

(54:56):
my head I was like, did.

Speaker 4 (55:00):
I said Mercedes?

Speaker 5 (55:01):
And I'm having this whole dialogue in my head on
stage and all you hear is the music and I
completely blank, and I'm like looking at Lacy who plays Dina,
and I'm like and she's like this, She's like, bit
you on your own. I don't know, and like literally

(55:21):
the scene could not continue until I remembered the line,
and so I had to just like and it was
a long like it was.

Speaker 4 (55:31):
It was a very long, long, long pause before I remember.

Speaker 3 (55:35):
That that's what they called entering the white room and
turn the white the white, and it's there's nothing, no
way out, there's no doors, there's no windows.

Speaker 4 (55:44):
You are in the white room. I was, yes, it has.

Speaker 5 (55:48):
Yes, But the difference that I would see is like
my voice was just different by that time.

Speaker 4 (55:53):
It was way more mature.

Speaker 5 (55:54):
I've been through more things in life, so I could
connect to the songs a little bit better. But when
I listened to and I'm telling you, I'm like, god,
she's a baby.

Speaker 4 (56:02):
And even Jennifer Holiday.

Speaker 5 (56:05):
Came and solid show, Oh my god, and she goes
you know, they told me to come and see you
see this show because she's she's the dream yeah, dream
girl like Jennifer.

Speaker 2 (56:13):
I'm sure she's seen a billion people do it.

Speaker 5 (56:16):
And they kept saying Jennifer's coming, and I'm thinking they're
talking about Jennifer Hudson, right, So I was just like, oh,
you Gen's coming, like you know, my homegirl. It was
Jennifer Holiday. And I'm glad that I was not. Yeah,
I'm grad that I didn't know that because I psyched
yourself out. I psyched myself out right. And she comes
up after and she goes, yeah, I heard you singing
on the show. I was just thinking like, oh, not like.

Speaker 4 (56:41):
That, but like just like, oh, she's.

Speaker 5 (56:43):
Hurt and I'm telling you. And she was just kind
of like yeah when I heard you sing on the show.
I was just like thinking like, yeah.

Speaker 4 (56:49):
She did good. But then she was like, this is
this is the best that I've ever heard heard it done.

Speaker 5 (56:57):
I've heard a million people do it, and you are
you have been. I'm taking a back so like to
hear that from the dream Girl.

Speaker 4 (57:08):
The compliment, I'll take it.

Speaker 3 (57:09):
Yeah, yeah, you take that the standard award and that's right.

Speaker 1 (57:18):
I want to tell to do that you missed a moment.

Speaker 2 (57:21):
I don't have any regrets in my mind.

Speaker 5 (57:23):
That is one because if that question is on that page,
let me just answer it now.

Speaker 4 (57:28):
No I'm not doing it. Don't you heard it here?

Speaker 2 (57:32):
Folks ask a six month contract.

Speaker 5 (57:36):
I would probably do it for a month, right right
that ship eight shows a week.

Speaker 2 (57:42):
Okay, what if you that's too much?

Speaker 4 (57:46):
I mean that's what That's what I was doing.

Speaker 5 (57:48):
Towards the end, I could only no one has ever
done dream Girls on Broadway or traveling and.

Speaker 4 (57:54):
Was able to sustain it.

Speaker 3 (57:57):
It's impossible to do so because it's just it's their their,
their R and B Belty songs.

Speaker 1 (58:07):
They're not yes exactly, you can't.

Speaker 2 (58:09):
You're using your full ring and like you can't.

Speaker 3 (58:12):
You have to give one hundred percent of your time
and you can't give ady to like.

Speaker 4 (58:16):
And I had to train up to it.

Speaker 5 (58:17):
I wasn't even making it through the whole entire show
when we first started rehearsals. I had to train myself
up to that that.

Speaker 4 (58:25):
Moment because you're also not just singing like I'm dancing.

Speaker 2 (58:28):
I have also watched lots of clips on that were
legally recorded and your performance at the Oliviers, But you
are crying through a lot of those numbers especially, And
I'm telling you, and it's not just like the effect
that has to have on your voice too, because.

Speaker 4 (58:44):
When you try, you contract right.

Speaker 5 (58:47):
So I always say it's the emotion behind And I'm
telling you Ivo I vocally tried to master I Am
Changing because I'm Changing its technically the harder song in
the show. But and I'm telling you, was all about
the emotion behind it, not necessarily the notes. It's more
about how you emote, and I think that that's what

(59:10):
people kind of connected to because I just used that moment,
whatever frustrations, whatever sadness, anything that I was feeling. I
used that moment as my my therapy when I was
on stage. So I think that that's more what people
responded to, because, like I said, I'm not necessarily a belter.
I don't have a Jennifer Holiday Jennifer Hudson's voice. They

(59:31):
have bionic steal lungs. You know what I'm saying, Like
you know, so, yeah.

Speaker 3 (59:39):
Well you left it all on the floor of that
theater was I don't even remember what theater.

Speaker 4 (59:44):
It was, but it was a disappoint left.

Speaker 1 (59:48):
Yes, you left it on the floor. You left it
all there.

Speaker 3 (59:52):
I mean basically by the end of it, and I'm
telling you, you were like in like a crotched position.
It was graceful, but I mean literally just reaching and
I was like, I don't know.

Speaker 1 (01:00:04):
Where I am right now, truly, just like jaw on
the ground, hands on the head.

Speaker 3 (01:00:11):
It was always really tried to go like the extra
mode though when I had family and stuff.

Speaker 2 (01:00:15):
Yeah, I remember when you won the Olivier. I just
I saw I was watching it I remember when you
got denomination, I like freaked out, and then you won.
I was just like balling, and then I was able
to like go and watch your performance on the That
was the first time i'd seen you sing it. Wow really,
and I was like holy shit.

Speaker 5 (01:00:37):
And then Harry and Showby came to see me do it,
but I had pneumonia when they came. So they get
to see me in the show. I think I still
sent them. They still saw the show, they just didn't
get to see me.

Speaker 1 (01:00:47):
Okay, when can we expect your next EP?

Speaker 4 (01:00:51):
Hopefully this summer. It's it's pretty much done.

Speaker 2 (01:00:55):
Send me songs now, sure, great, Okay, keep answering.

Speaker 5 (01:01:02):
Kevin's like my an r No, they should be done
this summer. The songs are pretty much finished. They just
need to be mixed and mastered. And like, I'm an
independent artist and everybody's like, why is your music? I'm like, y'all,
it takes so much to put music out, and you know,
I can. I can talk about this for days. I'm
not going to, but it's it's very hard for independent artists.

(01:01:23):
With streaming and stuff, They're making it very hard for
you to really reach your audience. But yeah, my music
will be out by summer, and I'm really excited about
this this EP. I'm really really excited about it. Like
I love the music. It's fun. Like I'm in a
completely different space from my last EP, and so yeah,

(01:01:44):
I'm really excited for people to hear.

Speaker 2 (01:01:46):
I still walk around my house and big girl energy.
It happens, I'll be walking around like what is this melody?
I'm like, it's catchy, it is.

Speaker 4 (01:01:57):
I hope.

Speaker 5 (01:01:57):
I'm hoping also that when this EP comes out that
people go back to the last pe and take a
listen again again. Because it came out during the pandemic,
so I didn't get to tour it. Oh, I didn't
get to do much promore or anything for itself.

Speaker 2 (01:02:15):
How you had a song in one of your songs?

Speaker 4 (01:02:18):
Yes, a colorblind Yeah?

Speaker 2 (01:02:20):
How was that right?

Speaker 4 (01:02:21):
Yeah? Emily wrote that.

Speaker 2 (01:02:23):
Yeah, Yeah, I told that. I was like, you know, Emily's.

Speaker 4 (01:02:31):
Love she wrote that gorgeous song. Yeah, it's beautiful.

Speaker 2 (01:02:36):
But did you feel scared to have like one of
your songs in there?

Speaker 4 (01:02:40):
Absolutely? You kidding me? Yeah, I was terrified.

Speaker 2 (01:02:43):
How was the response to it?

Speaker 5 (01:02:45):
It was pretty good. I mean, like a lot of
people still cover it. I get I get videos of
people covering it.

Speaker 2 (01:02:53):
Yeah, okay, so you've won Dancing with the Stars one singer,
what else can you win?

Speaker 4 (01:03:01):
A Grammy?

Speaker 2 (01:03:02):
That part she's Grammy nominated.

Speaker 5 (01:03:06):
Uh yeah, I really want. I mean, you know, as
I've gotten older. First of all, I always said I'm
not getting married until I went a Grammy, So, like,
I don't know, I don't know why I said that.
It was like a goal, and I feel like like
the universe is keeping me to it.

Speaker 4 (01:03:27):
A bitch.

Speaker 2 (01:03:27):
Get to work.

Speaker 5 (01:03:31):
Awards awards mean a lot, but they don't mean as
much to me any anymore, Like I really have. I'm
more worried about humanity and like how my music can
affect people in a good way and like healing, Like
I think I'm more of that, and award shows and
stuff are fine, And I think because I've also seen

(01:03:52):
behind the veil and I kind of know totally politics
behind a lot of it, and I'm just like, oh,
it's not a really so much about.

Speaker 2 (01:04:01):
It kills the mystery of it.

Speaker 5 (01:04:02):
It's not as much about like the work that I
put into it, and like the creativity and the artistry.

Speaker 4 (01:04:08):
It's not so much that anymore. But it's still amazing.

Speaker 5 (01:04:11):
It doesn't mean that it's not deserved or important, you know, sure,
but yeah, I don't know.

Speaker 4 (01:04:17):
I don't know what else I can I can wait.
Let's win at life. Let's do that.

Speaker 2 (01:04:21):
Do that.

Speaker 3 (01:04:31):
Before we let you go. I just have to tell
you that you know, helps them Out is a bop.
Oh my god, Okay, I know, but if you rewatch it.
I was like all these songs that we were doing,
and I was like, we have to watch these and.

Speaker 5 (01:04:45):
Helps them a is a bob. Everyone loves it and
I hate it so much.

Speaker 2 (01:04:50):
Love that makes sense. It's like people's like first singles,
you know, like I can't believe that was a single,
and that's.

Speaker 4 (01:04:55):
My biggest one. I like, shut up but better. I
liked that one better than.

Speaker 2 (01:05:06):
Like the voice of a generation.

Speaker 1 (01:05:12):
The people here are everybody, Wait, what is it?

Speaker 5 (01:05:17):
I can't remember it. I'm gonna have to now, I'm
gonna have to go and listen to it.

Speaker 2 (01:05:20):
I need to ask you about Victoria money.

Speaker 4 (01:05:24):
You're you're newest obsession.

Speaker 2 (01:05:26):
It's not new. I need it on record that I
am not new to the Victoria.

Speaker 5 (01:05:32):
He is not new to the Victoria Monette fandom. He
actually has known about Victoria Monet and how crazy talented
she is before she even put out a project.

Speaker 2 (01:05:43):
And Amber's really good friends with her, and I can't
get over it. And she's dominated for a billion Grammys.

Speaker 4 (01:05:48):
He is Bill and deserves.

Speaker 2 (01:05:50):
By the time this comes out, the Grammas have already happened.
But regardless of what happens, she deserves it all. She's
on the cover of like Variety this week.

Speaker 4 (01:05:57):
It's like she's being honored.

Speaker 2 (01:06:01):
Her.

Speaker 3 (01:06:01):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:06:01):
I went to her party last night, her Grammy party last.

Speaker 4 (01:06:06):
Night, and I think she's just Victoria is just Victoria.

Speaker 5 (01:06:10):
Like she's just pretty even and like super humble, and
I'm like, it's so amazing to meet somebody in the
industry that is wildly talented but also just a really
great individual. But she's just a really great person, and
so I'm really genuinely proud proud of her.

Speaker 4 (01:06:31):
And she's always willing to help and like she listens.

Speaker 5 (01:06:34):
To my music and like, oh, you should do this,
you know y bpm faster, Like oh I like this
part or try this, Like she's like that with all
her friends. She's been at this for fifteen years in
the music industry, writing for others, she was in a
singing group called Purple Rain, writing for just like all
these any artists that you can think of, Like, she's

(01:06:54):
put her marker on and so she finally really bet
on herself and puts something into a project, became a
mommy in the in the middle of it, and it's
like killing it a better example for her for her
daughter Hazel. So I love I love her and her
boyfriend John and and their daughter Hazel, like they're just
an amazing family.

Speaker 4 (01:07:16):
Shake shake shakes. She shaking my head, shake shake, shaking
my head. Yeah, it's like shake shaking my head.

Speaker 2 (01:07:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:07:24):
I like see.

Speaker 3 (01:07:24):
I like that one.

Speaker 1 (01:07:25):
Okay, tell us about your movie.

Speaker 5 (01:07:27):
Okay, So Single Black Female came out two years ago.
It debuted like five million streams and overall we've gotten
eight point one million streams over all platforms, and it
was just like a big It was the like the
biggest movie that they had had that year to ever
stream that way, and so we decided to do a sequel.

(01:07:47):
So Single Black Female too. I cannot give you guys
any details what it's about. It is a trip and
you need to watch it because it is a trip.
It's really fun. Comes out March second, and so yeah,
I'm really excited for people for people to see it's myself,
Raven Goodwin and Ky Michelle and yes, and like I

(01:08:10):
really enjoyed doing the movie with them. Raven Goodwin is
such an amazing actor. That's my industry twin. And ca
Mi Shelle is a hoot. She's so funny in this movie,
Like she's literally the comedic relief.

Speaker 2 (01:08:23):
So yeah, how excited were you? You're getting another one? Oh?

Speaker 4 (01:08:26):
I was really excited.

Speaker 5 (01:08:27):
I was really excited because, like I know that Lifetime
doesn't normally do a lot of sequels, and so like
that's an that's an honor in general, and like doing
a Lifetime movie is kind of like on your bucket
list as an actor. Like there's certain things like being
on Law and Order, you know what I'm saying, Like
there's a certain thing I feel that.

Speaker 4 (01:08:47):
So this is really cool. I'm March second.

Speaker 3 (01:08:51):
Okay, really for the last time before we let you go,
what is the feeling that Glee leaves you with?

Speaker 5 (01:08:55):
Oh my gosh, I would think besides if I ever
had a child, that is the most amazing thing that
I've done. Wow, it was a roller coaster. It was
I grew up on that show. I became an adult
on that show. I became an artist on that show.

(01:09:16):
I just it really made me who I am. So
it leaves me with this just this fulfilling feeling. I
feel fulfilled that if I didn't do anything else in life,
I did that ship.

Speaker 4 (01:09:29):
And that's and and that's what we did.

Speaker 5 (01:09:33):
Not a lot of people are going to be able
to say they can they've done that in their career.

Speaker 4 (01:09:36):
And we did.

Speaker 2 (01:09:38):
Everything everything we got an Oprah.

Speaker 4 (01:09:41):
Oprah white House sang at the O two.

Speaker 2 (01:09:45):
You singing at the White House was one of the
best moments of my entire life.

Speaker 5 (01:09:49):
I mean, it's we've done what we got to do
on that show. People just never in their lifetime, we
never get to experience. So I feel very fulfilled. I
can always look back and be like, Yeah, I did that.

Speaker 2 (01:10:04):
You've always had such a great perspective on it too,
because you laugh and remember all like the good ship.
Also laugh at all like the stupid hard stuff.

Speaker 5 (01:10:14):
Because it's all a lesson at the end of the day,
Like the bad stuff teaches you, and then it doesn't
it doesn't necessarily have to stay with you. You know
what I'm saying, like you can learn from it, you
can learn to not repeat it, you know what I'm saying, Like,
you can learn you can learn to recognize it in
other things and stay away from it. Like it's just
you got to take the good with the bad. And

(01:10:36):
and another thing that I've learned too, because you know,
we when we started Twitter and social media just started popping.
And it's one thing that I've always held on too.
You're never as bad as they say you are, but
you're never as good as they say you are either.
It has kept me so so balanced in this in
this industry.

Speaker 2 (01:10:57):
So that's the exception, is that Amber actually is as
good as whatever. That's the difference. You don't have to
believe us. Thank you, love you, thanks for listening, and
follow us on Instagram at and that's what you really
miss pod. Make sure to write us a review and
leave us five stars. See you next time,