October 19, 2021 • 42 mins
Actor Yvette Nicole Brown talks about her early experiences as a singer, her work with Kevin Hart, her activism, Emmy nomination, and more.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:07):
This is On the Edge, apodcast series from the Creative Coalition featuring conversations
with an edge and chats with personalitiesfrom the world of entertainment. Now here's
your host, Creative Coalition CEO,Robin Bronk. I'm Robin, and thank
you for tuning in. Today's guestis an Emmy nominee and terrific friend of
(00:28):
the Creative Coalition, from Community andthe Disney Plus series Big Shot to the
upcoming Disenchanted, and a bunch ofother things in between. Welcome, Yvette
Nicole Brown. Hi, Evette NicoleBrown, Hi Robin Brown. Let's do
the Evette Nicole Brown. You're growingup in Ohio? Now, did you
(00:48):
always go by Evette Nicole my wholelife? I never went by Evette Nicole.
In fact, only my aunt Chrismakes you rest in peace ever called
me Nicole in my entire life.She called me Nicole or Nikki. Everyone
else in my life called me that. I was Evette Brown and I'm still
Evette Brown in my real life.Vette Nicole Brown is the actress. That's
my stage name. But no,and I only picked it as funny.
(01:10):
When you go to SAG to signup for SAG you have to choose your
name, right, And I can'tremember why, but the guy that was
checking me in, I was like, should I be Vett Brown or should
I be vet Nicole Brown? BecauseI think I was thinking of Tiffany Amberth
Theson and Sarah Jessica Parker. Andhe said, you should do Evette Nicole
Brown, like there's some energy tosome good energy to that name, like
that name is prosperous and successful andin a way that Evette Brown just isn't.
(01:34):
I was like, Okay, nowthat I've done it, I wish
that I would have been something otherthan Vette Nicole Brown, because that's my
full, real legal name. SoI'm always thinking about, like, so
somebody need is my zip code andthey can become me, and so I'm
very nervous about being out there likethat. But yeah, no, I
never I didn't intend to use it. It was just a decision that the
guy who checks me in a SAGmade and I said, yes, I
(01:56):
don't like it. He is right, I love it does have a lot
of energy Icole Brown. You knowwhat's funny about it? Though, And
if there's anyone that listens to thisthat understands the effect of words hitting your
ear. I get called Nicole morethan any other name. If I meet
someone and go hi, my nameis Evete Nicole Brown, they go hello,
Nicole. It's like something about Nicoleresonates and Evette just kind of falls
(02:19):
away. And I've even had friends. Someone can be a friend of mine
for many years and they'll just sayNicole and I'm like, or Evette.
You know. So, I thinkthere's something about the way the two words
hit your ear that if you hearthem together, you just toss Evett aside.
So I would love to know whatit is in our brain that does
that. So I just I thinkit's a really crisp sounding name. I
(02:40):
like your crispiness. I love achrisp name. Like chrisp name. So
back when your Evette Brown, whendid you decide you wanted to be an
artist? What made you decide that? You know? I grew up in
a single family home. My momis my mom and my brother and me.
My dad was always in my life, but they got divorced when I
was really young, and my momwas always working really hard, and me
(03:00):
and my brother would always like puton little plays and stuff for her when
she got home from work, andI think I just saw in the way
she responded to me and my brother'slittle performances that I had the ability to
make people happier. And so Ithink I kind of just always saw it'd
be so cool to make people happyfor a living. Now, having said
that, there was nothing in myEast Cleveland upbringing that made me believe I
(03:23):
could be doing anything that I'm doingnow, Like, it's not like there
was no path from where I grewup to where I am now at all.
So the dream of being a performer, initially a singer, and then
it moved on to becoming an actressor you know, Princess of Zamunda,
I don't know, like it wasas fanciful as any of those types of
dreams. So I just never thoughtit was possible. I wanted to do
(03:44):
it, but didn't think it waspossible, and then I just started doing
it. Like in high school,I was in a lot of singing groups,
and in college I was still singing, and I sang R and B.
What was your signature or song?Oh gosh. I didn't have a
signature song, but my audition song. If I auditioned, I would sing,
oh Outside in the Rain by Malirah. She was a singer that was
signed to Motown and her vocal tonewas in my tone and the song was
(04:09):
well known enough for the person youwere singing to tap a toe or sing
along. I loved the group NewAddition and I loved like Malcolm jum Warner
when I was a kid, andI thought, you know, the only
way I could meet him as ifI'm famous too, strategy. So I
was like, so I'm gonna I'mgonna become a famous singer, and then
I can go on tour with NewAddition and I can meet them, and
(04:30):
then I can meet Malcolm Jumar Warner. So it was really a very specific
dream. I know, I know, and it's crazy now that I know
all of them. I was inthe New Edition movie. Malcolm is one
of my dear friends. So it'sjust funny how it all came full circle.
But it was just a dream thatI had as a kid, and
my real goal, my attainable goal, was to be a teacher. I
(04:50):
was going to be a kindergarten teacherif music and acting didn't work out.
That's what I was gonna do becauseI love kids, and whenever I do
an interview like this, and theyasked how it came to be. I'm
always like, I ain't them Jesus, because I could not. I could
not plan how this played out ifI tried to. This day, I
don't have a five year and tenyear plan, except now it's to retire.
I dream of retiring, like oh, just not having to go anywhere
(05:13):
and not having to do anything.So that's my plan. But I never
was like, in five years,I'm gonna I never was that girl.
Never. So where were you incollege? University of Akron in Ohio,
go zips. I wanted to goto Howard and got accepted to Howard University,
but my mom thought it was toofar away because she was a single
Like I said, she was asingle parent, and she was concerned that
(05:34):
if anything ever happened to me,she wouldn't be able to get to me,
or she wouldn't be able to bringme home, and it was a
valid concern for her. I feltlike, whatever happened, I would be
able to handle it because I've alwaysbeen very independent and I really wanted to
go to Howard. I felt thatthe Mecca was like calling to me,
and when I look back now andsee all of the people that are in
(05:54):
entertainment that came from Howard. It'slike I would have been there when Taraji
was there, when Puff Daddy wasthere. I would have been there when
a lot of people that I respectwere there, and I probably would have
known them and you know, comeup with them. But then I look
at my life and it's like Istill made it with them. I learned
so much going to the University ofacron It was a predominantly white school,
(06:15):
so there's a lot of things thatI learned my high school, in my
elementary school, and all my publicschool years were all with black folk.
So this was the first time thatI was ever around a bunch of white
people, and it really informed me. It taught me how to move in
those spaces. It taught me howto build bridges and to make a safe
space for myself wherever I am,and that has served me very well in
(06:39):
Hollywood. And I don't know ifI had been blessed to go to Howard,
if there's some things like that thatI would have really known, because
I know that I would have cocoonedwith my people and would have been just
overjoyed to be in that space,and I don't know that I would have
ventured out to to see what itwas like in the other part of the
world. So from Ohio, didyou go straight to LA? I graduated
(07:00):
from Akron Bachelor of Fine and AppliedArts Communications Journalism emphasis, and I came
out to LA the same year inOctober, and I came out shout out
to Evettelee Bowser. I came outbecause I had sent a letter, because
this is before even email, soI sent a letter to Vettelee Bowser and
I was like, how you at. My name's Evette two and we're both
(07:20):
at Ka's and I am a writerjust like you. I was not a
writer yet, Robin her I wasa writer. I lie, I really
wanted to be I really wanted tobe an actor. But I didn't think
she'd meet me if I said Iwanted to be an actor. And I
said, I just love to meetwith you and talk to you about maybe
working on living single. And tomy surprise, her assistant called me maybe
(07:40):
a week or so later. Thatmust have been some letter. It's crazy,
I know. I wonder if heVette still has it. She said
that she remember when I first mether years ago when I did half and
half her show she was doing atthe time. She said she remembered the
letter. I wonder if she keptit. But her assistant called and said,
hey, when can you be inLa. I just arbitrarily said October.
She said, okay, well you'reonly that's calendar for October seventeenth,
(08:01):
and that's the amazing And I hadno way to La. I had nowhere
to stay, but that meeting beingon the calendar made me scramble and a
shout out to Carmela Ferusia, mySpanish teacher at the University of Akron.
She bought my plane ticket to La. Yeah, she wanted me to chase
my dreams, and so she boughtmy plane ticket. And I had ever
(08:24):
had to go back. I've livedhere ever since. That is wonderful.
And then, so, what wasyour first big audition in La? First
big audition? The one thing youdidn't ask about my greatest regrets, But
I'm might swing there with this question. I big regret about coming to Las.
I didn't hit the ground running.I was very scared, and I
was chasing music for a few yearsand wasn't really thinking of acting, and
(08:46):
so I didn't start acting or auditioning. Until probably nineteen ninety eight, I
was working in offices. I endedup working at Motown. I was a
Michael Bivens assistant at Motown. Iworked at MGM, I worked at MCA.
I was bouncing around as an officetemp and illegal secretary and just about
every entertainment company in LA. Becauseagain it goes back to if I couldn't
(09:09):
do it for a living, Iwanted to be around it, so I
would work at a movie studio andget to go to the screenings and see
the movies early, or work ata record company and get to get all
the CDs for free. I feltlike I was living my dream in that
way. But I was in aplay at my church and DAVIDY Talbert,
who was like the Tyler Perry ofhis time, was casting for touring play,
(09:31):
a gospel play, and I didn'teven know it. I was performing
in my acting class at church andhe was there auditioning, and I ended
up getting asked to come in anaudition for a role. And I originated
a role in one of his playscalled His Woman his Wife, and went
on the road for eight months withhim and took a leave of absence from
my legal secretarial job at showtime.Shout out to Steve Rogers, my attorney
(09:52):
boss, who gave me a leaveof app since he said, we love
you, we want you to chasethe stream, go out for your job
will be waiting here. If youlove it, well, you can quit
them. If not, your jobwill be waiting for you. I was
out on the road for one weekand I called Steve and I said,
I am so sorry, but Ilove this and I wanted to stay out
here. And he was like,sad to see you go, but with
(10:15):
my blessing, please go. AndI've never had a full time job since.
What a great village that you attract. Yeah, it's a blessing yet
is so? What came first?Drake and Josh our community. The timeline
is when I finished the play,I came back to LA and I started
doing a whole bunch of commercials.Those commercials led to the Big House,
which is Kevin Hart's first television show. I did six episodes of that,
(10:39):
and while we were filming our sixepisodes, I got an audition for a
guest star role on Drake and Josh. Auditioned, I booked it, did
one episode as Helen, and thenthe Big House got picked up, so
I had to leave my role onDrake and Josh, and that's why there's
one episode of Drake and Josh whereI'm not Helen. Big House had gotten
canceled by then, and then Iwas able to go back and do fourteen
(11:00):
more episodes as Helen on Drake andJosh. And then so Drake and Josh
ended in two thousand and six ortwo thousand and seven, and then Community
came in two thousand and nine.What was Drake and Josh like? That
was a big hit show? Itwas a lot of fun. Like I
grew up on sitcoms and there wasa time when the only way you could
do with a multi camp sitcom wasif you did it on Disney or Nickelodeon.
(11:20):
And I grew up watching you can'tdo that on television and a lot
of the other Nickelodeon shows, andso to get the call to be on
a Nickelodeon show was a really bigdeal. And Dan Schneider was like the
biggest creator of television for kids onNickelodeon. So it was a lot of
fun and I got to watch thosebabies grow up like Miranda Cosgrove and Josh.
(11:41):
They were just really talented as babies, and you just knew that what
they had in nately was going togo on to be something amazing, and
it was nice to be able towitness it at the very beginning. Was
it a challenge working with kids?I didn't find it to be a challenge
because they were very professional kids,Like I don't know what'd be like to
work with a kid that hadn't alreadygrown up in the industry, like Miranda
(12:05):
had already done School of Rock Ithink when she did Drake and Josh,
and Josh and Drake had both beenon you know, The Amanda Show,
and so these kids were already seasonedprofessionals. They were more seasoned than I
was. This was like maybe thesecond or third thing I'd ever done.
So you got to ask them,was it challenge? Were with me because
(12:26):
I didn't know what I was doing? But I found them to be delightful.
Well was Kevin Hart? Like KevinHart is delightful and it's so funny.
He and I began our careers together. The Big House was my first
pilot season, the first pilot Iever booked, and it was his first
television show ever. We got kindof a We didn't get the love we
deserved, I think from our networkat the time, and I think that
(12:50):
we were a little bit ahead ofour time, so we only did like
six episodes. But to watch Kevinat the beginning of his career, everything
that he is now was in himat twenty three years old. I remember
Kevin was the first person I everheard in my life talk about a four
h one K and he was twentythree years old talking about He had a
meeting with his lawyer because he wantedto set up his four one K.
(13:11):
I'm thinking, you got forty yearsbefore you retire, and he was like,
well, this is how you justhow you make that money. You
got to get in there, andI just he was always a businessman.
He was always a mogul, evenbefore he became that. And the Big
House failed and he had a moviesole playing. Both were at the same
time. Both were supposed to makehim a household name, and both of
(13:31):
them failed and bombed. For himto rise from that in the way that
he's risen from that, I thinksays a lot about his belief in himself,
his understanding of how this industry worksand his ability to shift and bob
and weave, and I learned alot about that watching him as well.
See You're on shore that you thoughtwas going to be a hit and it's
not. So how did you feelabout that? You know, it's hard
(13:52):
to say because it was my firstshow ever, so I think it actually
prepared me for this industry in away that I wasn't even aware of.
It was kind of like my waxon, wax off paint the fence moment.
Because if your first show that's supposedto be a hit is not a
hit, then that means nothing's guaranteed. What a great lesson to learn at
the beginning of your career. Sothat every other show I go into I
(14:16):
am acutely aware that it could end. So I don't overspend, I don't
lose my mind. I see italways as an opportunity and a job,
and jobs end. Every show ends, most end before you're ready, but
I go in knowing fully that theycan end, no matter how great the
reviews are, no matter how greatthe star of the show is, it
(14:37):
could end. So that means youhave to save your money, always be
on the lookout for what your nextthing is and diversify and always have another
lane you can bounce into when thelane you're end drives up. So it
was a gift that the show gotcanceled talking about another lane. We met
because of issues, and I don'tknow if you realize it, but you're
a great risk taker and advocate formany issues, and as you do,
(15:00):
some of your fans won't like whatyou're advocating, and I just think that's
but I think that is just aspectacular trade about you. And we met
about one of the issues that theCreative Coalition was taking on, and you
jumped in with both feet and bothhands and all your fingers and toes.
And it's a gift to the issueas well as the Creative Collision. And
(15:22):
the issue I'm talking about is thislast of the shame and blame diseases obesity.
Yeah that you know, it's lookedon still today as something to be
ashamed of. People don't realize thathealthcare is available. And you were just
instrumental in jumping in and bringing yourpeers along with you, which is a
(15:43):
great gift. Well, thank youfor that. I actually do believe in
good trouble. I actually believe thatif you see something that's not right,
you should speak up. I havenever cared about fame, and I mean
it with my whole heart and soul. I don't care how many followers I
have. I don't care if peoplethink I'm amazing. It's more important that
(16:04):
I use whatever platform I have forgood. And I am never going to
not say something that needs to besaid or fight for something that needs to
be fought for because I'm concerned aboutwhat some company I work for thinks or
what someone who follows me thinks.I may be the only person that will
be able to speak that truth towhoever that person is. Now, if
(16:25):
I lose them, I pray thatGod blesses them as they go. But
I will never not speak up aboutwhat matters because of what someone else may
think. Never, And that's whyI do my research and I make sure
that what I'm speaking up about.I know. That's why I apologize if
I'm ever out of pocket or wrong. But I'm never going to apologize for
(16:48):
fighting the fighting for what's good.Never Ever, What moved you about this
issue of obesity. I've been obese, I may be obese again. You
know what I mean? Like Iate myself into diabete when I was on
the community set. I talk aboutit all the time, and I don't
have to talk about my weight struggles. You can just go to Getty Images
and take a nice long walk throughmy ups and downs with weight. I
(17:11):
know that you can exercise every singleday and restrict what you eat and still
and still be bigger than people thinkyou should be. I know that you
can be You can eat all dayand not exercise and be as thin as
a rail. It is a Itis how your body processes the food that
goes into your body. It's howyour body eliminates, how your body uses
(17:33):
energy, either effectively or not.That's it is. It is a health
issue. It is not a willpowerissue. It's not a something that should
be shameful. You know, youhave no control over the body that you
get when you get here. Youhave no control over it. And I
think a lot of times people thatthat don't grasp that, they end up
doing their bodies more harmed by overexercising and starving themselves to achieve some ideal
(17:59):
that just their body may not becapable of. And every time we shame
someone because their body doesn't look theway we think it should. We're adding
fuel to a fire that is alreadydestroying people's lives and spirits. So it
was very easy for me to stepinto be a part of things that discuss
what obesity really is, what thecauses are, and provide a soft space
(18:26):
for people to land who are whoare dealing with it, because, like
I said, I'm one of thepeople that in my life I have dealt
with it. Did it impact yourgrowing up at all? You know?
I actually have never really been affectedby what people think of me physically,
you know what I mean. LikeI'm a I'm a woman in America,
so of course I had through myteenage years. You're looking through magazines and
you don't and as a black woman, you definitely didn't see yourself. So
(18:47):
I didn't see myself from my bodytype reflected back to me. But I
thought that was their loss, youknow what I mean, Like I didn't
take it like there was something wrongwith me, and I I had moments
like in my twenties, I thinkwhere I especially first moved into LA where
for a minute I thought I haveto be a certain thing. But I
also have lived my whole life inmy body and my body don't like being
(19:11):
a size too. You don't notno size too or no zero. So
I knew that I was not goingto kill myself trying to make my body
into something that it wasn't. Andhonestly, I've worked more as a as
a thick girl I was then I'veever would have worked as a tiny person,
because if you're a tiny person,you're a dime a dozen in la.
If you've got some curves to yourlittle fluffiness, you kind of stand
(19:33):
out. So yeah, I've neverIt's never really affected my self esteem in
that way. It's interesting that I'mtalking about advocacy and talking about the entertainment
industry and advocacy, we are reallyworking hard to get obesity accepted as a
disease and that one shouldn't be ashamed. We did a short film competition on
this, and we certainly heard alot of stories, and again, in
(19:56):
your beautiful, beautiful, gentle,take charge manner, you became the format
of our jury for this short competitionbecause you do it and you just it's
just so, you know, inyour gentle way. After hearing you know
so many stories, do you thinkit's something that we're going to start tackling
as an industry as this type ofawareness. I mean, I hope.
(20:19):
So it's the same thing with questionsabout whether you know people of color or
ever. Our stories are ever goingto be told in a way that people
understand. You're not going to getto the truth in the heart of what
having obesity is like unless you havemore people in positions of decision making that
struggle with obesity. Right. Ifif your network head is chubby, then
(20:47):
they have a softer spot for storiesabout those that are chubby. Right,
If you have a showrunner who's thick, then they will be more open to
seeing actors that are thick in storiesthat show the truth of what it's like
to move through the world as aperson with extra pounds. Right. But
(21:07):
as long as the people that aremaking the decision don't struggle with it,
they don't really understand what the struggleis, so it's hard to see more
things that shine a light on it. Because that was what we went through
even with the jury, Right,a lot of the people that were presenting
their projects had no idea what it'slike to be overweight, and I found
some of the ways they wanted todepict it to be kind of insulting,
(21:32):
and it showed me that they hadno idea what it's like to go through
it and to deal with it.And so again it just highlighted to me
that the people that are making theprojects about it need to have some skin
in the game. It's shocking thatthere it is not an orphan disease,
yet it's treated as this, youknow disease. It doesn't really affect many
(21:52):
people, yet what is it forany can Americans half of the viewership of
entertainment? Yep? If you've beentold your whole life that the problem is
you and you're to be ashamed,then why would you raise your hand and
go, we should be treated fairly. Like I even joke, and this
is a joke, but it isactually true. I always say the joke
(22:15):
that I ate myself to diabetes onthe community set because I was stressed out
because we are hours were long orwhatever, and I did eat my way
to diabetes. But within that itkind of there is a shame aspect that
I'm applying to myself, like almostlike I deserve to be sick because I
did it to myself. And that'sthe same feeling that a lot of people
that are dealing with obesity feel it'slike, well, I'm the one that
(22:37):
ate the bond bonds, or I'mthe one that didn't stay on the treadmill
for two hours instead of one,When again, it goes back to your
body may not process food the wayother people people's bodies do, and you
could have stayed on the treadmill ofthat extra hour, and you just would
have been sweating for an extra hourand still be three hundred pounds like you
have to we have to get tothe point where people understand that this is
not this is not about will hour, This is not it's there are there
(23:03):
are things that you can do thatare healthier. Like I have diabetes,
which means I should not be eatingsugar the way I eat sugar. Like
that's a change that I can make, but it's a medical disease. I
just treasure the fact that you're inthe fray right now with us. You're
willing to come out and say everythingthat you're saying because it's this weirdly guarded
(23:26):
secret. Yeah, I don't mindbeing on the front lines of any righteous
battle. I had a friend tellme once that I was built for rebuttal
and I swear I'm gonna make Tshirts because I really am, and I
fight the hardest for other people likeI will always fight more for injustice happening
to other people than anything happening tome. The only time I rise up
(23:47):
for myself is if somebody says I'mnot a good person, because I'm a
very I'm a decent person. Ilove people and I do my best too
to care for folks, and soif somebody tries to paint me as if
I'm hateful or mean spirited, Iwill go you know what I mean.
But otherwise they can call me ugly, fat, old. I don't care.
You can't act okay like those thingsI don't care about, but don't
(24:08):
come from my character and don't comefor anybody else for any reason, because
I will rise up. Well,you mentioned Community, Yeah, tell me
about the audition for Community. Communitywas every black woman that has ever acted
in the world was at that audition. When I tell you, an entire
(24:29):
parking lot and office was filled withamazing black actresses, most that had been
on series. Every face that Isaw was someone that I respected. They
cast a very wide net. Imean every age from like sixties and seventies
down to twenties. It was everyevery black actress. And I think that's
what gave me an edge up ifI say that, because there were so
(24:53):
many amazing actresses there, I waslike, I'm never gonna get it.
So I had no nervousness. Iwasn't nervous at all. I was just
soon in there and you know,do my best and and just have a
nice time and hopefully make a fanin the room that will bring me in
to be a guest star on theshow at some point, because there's no
way I'm booking this if her andshe and her and her and she,
if they're all here, it ain'tgoing my way. So and it was
(25:15):
a long audition, like I wasthere like two or three hours. And
I remember one of my friends whohad already auditioned. I always want to
say that. I asked her.I said, do you think that I
should stay? She said, no, girl, you should go now.
She had already auditioned, so shewas trying to get the competition up by
the by this point, I hadalready put in like two hours, and
(25:37):
I was like, I'm not gonnagive up now. I'm like number I'm
coming up soon, and you know, I'm glad I stayed. I went
in auditioned and Dan Harmon brought theRusso brothers had been in the room,
but they had to step out becausethey were our executive producers. They had
to step out to take a callabout another cast member. So it was
just me, Dan Harmon, andour casting associate and our casting director in
their associate. And so when Idid the the role first the first audition,
(26:02):
Dan said, can you just waita minute, I want to show
you to my friends, And thenhe went out and got the Russo's off
the call and brought them back intothe room for me to audition again for
them, which I thought was agood sign because you know, why would
you bring in take people off acall if you didn't like what the girl
just did. And then I,you know, I booked it. I
(26:22):
think I had maybe one more oneor two more auditions after that, like
Network and studio. But yeah,did you like the character Shirley? I
really did like Shirley. Shirley's shewas a Christian, She's we were a
lot alike. I think Shirley's alot more judgmental than me, and Shirley
was, of course married, divorce, had kids. I don't have kids,
I'm not married. But I reallyliked her. I liked that.
(26:44):
I liked that Shirley is trying tobe a good person. Shirley is not
always a good person, but sheis at least trying to be a good
person. And I think she thinksshe's doing good. I actually identified it
was Shirley in that. Yeah,she was always trying to be good and
she would see try and see thebest of everyone without being Pollyanna just right.
(27:06):
And it's like I would strive tobe better like that. Yeah,
to be not she was. Shedidn't seem to be judgmental, but to
try to find the good. Yeah. Well she was judgmental in her religion,
you know, she was, sheactually, and I think her her
religion is what made her a littlerigid with other people's religion in their choices.
But she did love people anyway.She just always wanted to make sure
(27:29):
that they knew this is not good, you know what I mean. So,
yeah, but I like her alot. I think she's I think
she's messy and flawed, like everybodyat Greendale was. And uh, I
think she she put a lot ofshe brought a lot of heart to the
study group. You know, thecast you are, you and your castmates,
I mean phenomenal, Thank you whoyou know what you all did and
what what you It was such aI think it was that was another show
(27:52):
before it's time. Yeah, justyou know, you just went out there.
What you'd think about what they werethey really going to say it?
And then you went you went downthat exit ramp and it was a masterpiece.
But tell me about the cast membersare you did you like working with
them? I did? I didyou realize about the lightning in the bottle
(28:14):
that you all had? You know, I don't know that we we thought.
I don't ever remember sitting at thestudy room table going this group is
going places. You know. Idon't know that I thought of that about
us collectively. I knew that wereally liked each other. I knew that
we enjoyed making each other laugh.And I knew that each of them were
ridiculously talented and that anything they puttheir hand to would would thrive. I
(28:38):
did know that instinctively. But asfar as going, this ensemble is going
to be one for the record books, Like, I still don't say that
I don't I'll say it that ensembleis one for I wouldn't even be able
to say it because I'm a partof it. And you know what I
mean. I could say it aboutthem if I wasn't in there, but
I can't do it if I'm inthere, And I just I just not
built that way. But um yeah, I still I stand in awe of
(29:03):
what every one of them has donesince and stand in wonder of all that
they're going to do, you know, because they they only just scratched the
surface of what they're going to doin this entertainment industry, you know,
in front of end, behind thescenes. What was funny your favorite episodes
of Community? I really love thefirst flashback episode where we went to Universal
(29:29):
Studios and it was all those reallyquick cuts. I remember the scene where
Shirley is selling her the first timewe hear about Lady Miss Lady Comet cosmetics,
and it's just something so funny tome that she makes them open up
their safe, their security seal,and then as soon as they open and
she goes, now you owe metwenty dollars, and I just thought that
was so and it might even bemore than twenty, and their faces just
(29:52):
fall. I just thought it wassuch a perfect example of Shirley's foolishness,
and there were just little quick cutslike that of everybody's mess Each one of
the of our study group members messis like shown for like thirty seconds in
that episode. So I really lovethat episode. And I love the Lawn
Order episode because I'm a huge Lawand Order fan. Yeah, so it
was great to get to to beum, you know, the lieutenant in
(30:15):
that. That was pretty cool.And how I was working with Dan Harmon.
I yes, I love Dan Harmon. Um. I call him Harmon,
and he and I have such aninteresting relationship, like it's kind of
cantankerous but loving, and he heacts as if I'm not one of his
(30:37):
favorite humans. But I know thatI am. Now it's officials on this
past. Yeah, yeah, Iknow that I am mad, but no,
he Um, I'm so grateful thathe gave me the role of Shirley.
And I think that, you know, he's kind of my a bed
in that I think that I humblehim and he humbles me, you know
what I mean. I think Ithink that now you'd have to have him
(31:00):
on the podcast to see if whatI just said was true at him.
On the other he's on the list, he's on the list, he's but
on the list. Yeah, ButI know, I really like him,
and I think that he's UM.I think that he is prolific, and
I think the word genius is used, you know, freely in this industry.
But I do think for what hedoes, the way his mind works,
I think he is a genius aidwhat he does in this industry.
(31:21):
And I think Rick and Morty kindof proves that UM beyond community was did
you ever did you ever break?Right? I mean the scripts were just
so a long, We're so outrageous. Did you ever just break up?
And was hard? You guys rememberlaughing? Oh yeah, you're working hard.
Yeah. We each have a weeach have a breaking style. UM.
(31:44):
Some of us will break Allison break, will break and then start crying,
causing makeup and hear makeup to haveto come in and adjust. UM.
Some break readily without any shame orapology. Danny Pootty, Um.
Some of us never break, UM, but we'll cause everyone to break.
(32:06):
Donald Clover um, and some ofus break yet try to hide it poorly.
Gilly and Jacobs. Um. Idon't break for a very very long
time, because again, my goalis for everyone to leave and go home.
Right. The problem is, onceI do break, I'm gone,
(32:27):
like shut the lights off, everybodygood night, because I can't. Once
once I get tickled, I cannotnot be tickled. Um. And the
bad thing is my castmates know that, so once I finally do break,
they just keep adding on until it'sit's just all over. So yeah,
so we broke all the time.I mean, there's the bloopers show that
the bloopers um And that's probably whyour hours were so long too, because
(32:52):
we were always in the middle ofa scene cracking up and doing things to
make each other crack up. Doyou think they'll be a movie? Everyone
wants to know? They're totally bea movie. Of course, we just
don't know when, Like we gotto scare everybody's so busy and famous.
They're also famous and rich. Whatdo you want to happen in the movie?
You know? What about it?I've actually never thought about what I
(33:15):
would want the movie to be.I always feel like that's above my pay
grade, you know, because Danasaid. Dan Harmon has said recently that,
you know, he has to servicethe community fans that already know the
show, and then he also hasto service, you know, hopefully new
people that would want to figure outwhat what you know, what's all this
hub up about Community? So that'sa that's a heavy lift, that's a
(33:37):
that's quite a needle to thread.So I don't I would just want us
all back together at the table forsome purpose. Um that that you know
makes us feel the warm fuzzies ofthe old show, like something that feels
nostalgic. So he did Community foryears and you left. You talked a
(33:59):
little bit about that. I wassad to leave my friends, but I
left to be a caregiver. I'ma caregiver for my father who has dementia.
I've had him, it'll be nineyears in December. He lives with
me, and he needed he neededme, and Community was sixteen hour days
and I can't take care of mydad and do sixteen hour days of work.
So I went to Dan Harmon andSony and asked to be released,
(34:21):
and they kindly let me go soI could take care of my dad.
So that's the reason why I'm notin season six of Community. I know
some fans at the time thought Ijust thought I was somebody special, and
I thought, you know, Igot a lot of heat from people because
they didn't understand that I made thedecision for my family. But family comes
first, and I don't chase fameor notoriety. And I don't need people
to love me if it means thatI have to leave my family in the
(34:44):
cold to receive and or keep thatlove. So anyone that didn't understand,
even to this day, I'm finewith it. You ain't got to understand.
I did the right thing for mydad. You did, You did
sign beautiful for it. I mean, it's just it's who you are,
who I hope to be, whoI try to be, and now you
are an Emmy nominee. I can'tbelieve it. I am, I can't
(35:07):
believe it. Tell me about theBlack Lady Sketch Show. Black Lady Sketch
Show. Black Lady Sketch Show isan amazing show created by Robin Thady and
Issa Ray that airs on HBO andHBO Max and it is a love letter
to black comedic women. It isan opportunity for black comedic women to show
(35:30):
every single version of themselves and everysingle version of their wackiness and their brilliance
and their beauty and it's a safespace to visit. And I have been
blessed to visit each season that they'vehad. So I've been on the show
two times and I've played the samecharacter, Judge Nita Harper and our sketches
Courtroom Kiki, and I got nominatedfor our Standing Guest Actress Comedy for playing
(35:54):
Judge Harper, which I don't evenknow where to file that in my brain.
That just really amazing. Where wereyou when you heard? I was
in Ireland still I was disenchanted forDisney and I was in a dressing room
of a department store called Brown Thomaswith Maya Rudolph and our friend Joe,
an Irish lady named Joe, andwe were all just trying on clothes and
(36:16):
you know, having a let's getout of our apartments for a day thing.
And Maya nor I even realized thatit was Emmy nomination day. She
had her phone off and mine wason Vibrate and I got a text from
Robin Thady from Black Ladies Sketch Showand all she had in the email was
in the text was OMG. AndI'm like, oh gosh, I hope
(36:37):
Robin's okay, what's going on andopened the text and it's like you got
you got nominated, And I waslike for what, like I just was
and what award show? Like Iwas so discombibulated. I didn't understand because
we were eight hours ahead, umin Ireland. I was like, what
is happening? And I've read furtherand then my agent popped in and then
my text started going crazy and that'show I found out. And then I
(36:59):
was the one that told Maya Rudolphthat she was nominated because we're nominated in
the same the same category, becauseyeah, that is great. Yeah,
no, it was a great moment. And we spent the rest of the
day drinking guinness and bouncing from pubto pub because I perfect way, perfect
way, that is the right thatyou were together and you were together in
this upcoming movie, right, Yeah, I getting to know Maya Rudolf has
(37:23):
probably been besides Ireland and of courseyou Adam Shankman and Amy Adams like it's
it's a great group, but um, I work with Maya and jam amays
the most, and um, gettingto spend time with both of them and
build a friendship with both of themhas been like the gift that I will
will take with me from Ireland.So had you been in a Disney studio
(37:45):
movie before? Well, yes,I was in Lady in the Tramp the
first Yes. No, yeah,so I was in I was in Lady
in the Tramp. And of courseyou know, my show Big Shot is
on Disney Plus, and I doa lot of cartoons, um Elena of
Avalor and Chicken Squad and uh,this one I can't even talk about that's
(38:05):
not out yet. So I doa lot of cartoons for Disney. Um.
But this is my second live actionfilm for Disney. Oh and also
you know I was in a littlefilm called The Avengers, that little film
film. Yeah, so yeah,this but this is my my second with
an actual big role. And youknow in the opening credits type situation,
what's the Moth about? Well,it's a it's a sequel to Enchanted,
(38:27):
Disney's Enchanted, So it's continuing thestory of Giselle and Robert and their their
daughter Morgan um in the world.That's all I can say, what role
at all? I can tell youthat I'm in it, and that most
of my work is with Maya,Rudolph and Jama and Maya has admitted that
she's the villain in the in thepiece, so you can you know,
(38:50):
you can deduce what so so wecan deduce, you can deduce whatever.
And speaking of Avengers, what wasthat like? Awesome? It was a
reunion with the Russo brothers, whoagain produced UM Executive produced UM Community.
And they love to they used they'dlove to give Community uh cameos in Avenger
(39:13):
films. They like us to bethe little Easter egg. And so it
was my turn and I got tobe in the elevator with you know,
Chris Evans and Robert Downey Junior ironMan and Captain America. And I almost
foiled the entire plan of end Game. I love that you're saying foiled it.
I say that, I know.Listen, I'm old that's one of
that's where we foiled again. Butyeah, I almost right. Um,
(39:37):
I almost derailed everything the Avenger spentmost of the film trying to do.
But thankfully, you know, itdidn't work. And I was just doing
my job. Some people have askedme if I was Hydra, and I
would never be Hydra or Sith.I am a Agent of Shield, Jedi
kind of person, So I haveone last question. Sure, think of
(39:58):
that. So you're that Roland,I guess more than in college and you're
sitting in that class because you think, well, maybe I'll be an educator,
maybe I'll teach kid think you said, and you're in your education class
or your early childhood class classes foreducation. I decided I was going to
be a journalist by then. Butokay, all right, get your more
(40:19):
journalist and class. And you're thinkingyou're going to be you know, Oprah,
and you're getting your you're getting yourpulits or out. You need to
get an outfer ready, right?Where do you whisper in the ear of
that sophomore in college? I wouldtell her that it gets it gets really
scary at times, but it alwaysgets better, and you just got to
(40:42):
make it through the times where itfeels like all is lost. And that's
something I would whisper into any sophomoreears. I feel like it. Life
is tricky. I saw this memethat said life is tricky. Life is
tricky, baby, stay in yourmagic, and that literally is what I
feel like. I would whisper intothe ears of anybody who's like nineteen or
twenty in the world, like lifeis tricky, baby, Stay in your
(41:02):
magic, find a way to keepthe sense of wonder and hope about your
future because there's going to be alot of difficult things you have to endure.
But if you stay the course,it's going to always get better.
Then it's gonna get bad again,then get better, then to get bad
again, then you'll get better.But that's what life is, and it's
just managing the difficult times and alsoholding onto whatever gem of truth or growth
(41:30):
or understanding that you get in thegood times. Like I say, wrap
that stuff up and bubble wrap andkeep it safe and pull it off the
shelf when it's time to fight adragon again and let that be the thing
that tied you over. That wasfun. Thanks everyone for tuning in,
and Yvette, thank you for joiningus today. I kind of love just
(41:51):
hanging out with you everyone. Comeback next time where we'll sit down with
one of the brilliant minds behind EmmyAward winning series How I Met Your Mother,
and one day at a time weget to hang with Gloria Calderon Kellett.
See everyone soon. You've been listeningto On the Edge, a podcast
series from the Creative Coalition hosted byCreative Coalition CEO Robin Bronk. For more
(42:17):
information on how you can protect fundingfor the arts and harness the power of
the arts to promote social good,visit us at the Creative Coalition dot org.
This is On the Edge, apodcast series from the Creative Coalition featuring conversations
with an edge and chats with personalitiesfrom the world of entertainment. Now here's
your host, Creative Coalition CEO,Robin Bronk. I'm Robin, and thank
you for tuning in. Today's guestis an Emmy nominee and terrific friend of
(00:28):
the Creative Coalition, from Community andthe Disney Plus series Big Shot to the
upcoming Disenchanted, and a bunch ofother things in between. Welcome, Yvette
Nicole Brown. Hi, Evette NicoleBrown, Hi Robin Brown. Let's do
the Evette Nicole Brown. You're growingup in Ohio? Now, did you
(00:48):
always go by Evette Nicole my wholelife? I never went by Evette Nicole.
In fact, only my aunt Chrismakes you rest in peace ever called
me Nicole in my entire life.She called me Nicole or Nikki. Everyone
else in my life called me that. I was Evette Brown and I'm still
Evette Brown in my real life.Vette Nicole Brown is the actress. That's
my stage name. But no,and I only picked it as funny.
(01:10):
When you go to SAG to signup for SAG you have to choose your
name, right, And I can'tremember why, but the guy that was
checking me in, I was like, should I be Vett Brown or should
I be vet Nicole Brown? BecauseI think I was thinking of Tiffany Amberth
Theson and Sarah Jessica Parker. Andhe said, you should do Evette Nicole
Brown, like there's some energy tosome good energy to that name, like
that name is prosperous and successful andin a way that Evette Brown just isn't.
(01:34):
I was like, Okay, nowthat I've done it, I wish
that I would have been something otherthan Vette Nicole Brown, because that's my
full, real legal name. SoI'm always thinking about, like, so
somebody need is my zip code andthey can become me, and so I'm
very nervous about being out there likethat. But yeah, no, I
never I didn't intend to use it. It was just a decision that the
guy who checks me in a SAGmade and I said, yes, I
(01:56):
don't like it. He is right, I love it does have a lot
of energy Icole Brown. You knowwhat's funny about it? Though, And
if there's anyone that listens to thisthat understands the effect of words hitting your
ear. I get called Nicole morethan any other name. If I meet
someone and go hi, my nameis Evete Nicole Brown, they go hello,
Nicole. It's like something about Nicoleresonates and Evette just kind of falls
(02:19):
away. And I've even had friends. Someone can be a friend of mine
for many years and they'll just sayNicole and I'm like, or Evette.
You know. So, I thinkthere's something about the way the two words
hit your ear that if you hearthem together, you just toss Evett aside.
So I would love to know whatit is in our brain that does
that. So I just I thinkit's a really crisp sounding name. I
(02:40):
like your crispiness. I love achrisp name. Like chrisp name. So
back when your Evette Brown, whendid you decide you wanted to be an
artist? What made you decide that? You know? I grew up in
a single family home. My momis my mom and my brother and me.
My dad was always in my life, but they got divorced when I
was really young, and my momwas always working really hard, and me
(03:00):
and my brother would always like puton little plays and stuff for her when
she got home from work, andI think I just saw in the way
she responded to me and my brother'slittle performances that I had the ability to
make people happier. And so Ithink I kind of just always saw it'd
be so cool to make people happyfor a living. Now, having said
that, there was nothing in myEast Cleveland upbringing that made me believe I
(03:23):
could be doing anything that I'm doingnow, Like, it's not like there
was no path from where I grewup to where I am now at all.
So the dream of being a performer, initially a singer, and then
it moved on to becoming an actressor you know, Princess of Zamunda,
I don't know, like it wasas fanciful as any of those types of
dreams. So I just never thoughtit was possible. I wanted to do
(03:44):
it, but didn't think it waspossible, and then I just started doing
it. Like in high school,I was in a lot of singing groups,
and in college I was still singing, and I sang R and B.
What was your signature or song?Oh gosh. I didn't have a
signature song, but my audition song. If I auditioned, I would sing,
oh Outside in the Rain by Malirah. She was a singer that was
signed to Motown and her vocal tonewas in my tone and the song was
(04:09):
well known enough for the person youwere singing to tap a toe or sing
along. I loved the group NewAddition and I loved like Malcolm jum Warner
when I was a kid, andI thought, you know, the only
way I could meet him as ifI'm famous too, strategy. So I
was like, so I'm gonna I'mgonna become a famous singer, and then
I can go on tour with NewAddition and I can meet them, and
(04:30):
then I can meet Malcolm Jumar Warner. So it was really a very specific
dream. I know, I know, and it's crazy now that I know
all of them. I was inthe New Edition movie. Malcolm is one
of my dear friends. So it'sjust funny how it all came full circle.
But it was just a dream thatI had as a kid, and
my real goal, my attainable goal, was to be a teacher. I
(04:50):
was going to be a kindergarten teacherif music and acting didn't work out.
That's what I was gonna do becauseI love kids, and whenever I do
an interview like this, and theyasked how it came to be. I'm
always like, I ain't them Jesus, because I could not. I could
not plan how this played out ifI tried to. This day, I
don't have a five year and tenyear plan, except now it's to retire.
I dream of retiring, like oh, just not having to go anywhere
(05:13):
and not having to do anything.So that's my plan. But I never
was like, in five years,I'm gonna I never was that girl.
Never. So where were you incollege? University of Akron in Ohio,
go zips. I wanted to goto Howard and got accepted to Howard University,
but my mom thought it was toofar away because she was a single
Like I said, she was asingle parent, and she was concerned that
(05:34):
if anything ever happened to me,she wouldn't be able to get to me,
or she wouldn't be able to bringme home, and it was a
valid concern for her. I feltlike, whatever happened, I would be
able to handle it because I've alwaysbeen very independent and I really wanted to
go to Howard. I felt thatthe Mecca was like calling to me,
and when I look back now andsee all of the people that are in
(05:54):
entertainment that came from Howard. It'slike I would have been there when Taraji
was there, when Puff Daddy wasthere. I would have been there when
a lot of people that I respectwere there, and I probably would have
known them and you know, comeup with them. But then I look
at my life and it's like Istill made it with them. I learned
so much going to the University ofacron It was a predominantly white school,
(06:15):
so there's a lot of things thatI learned my high school, in my
elementary school, and all my publicschool years were all with black folk.
So this was the first time thatI was ever around a bunch of white
people, and it really informed me. It taught me how to move in
those spaces. It taught me howto build bridges and to make a safe
space for myself wherever I am,and that has served me very well in
(06:39):
Hollywood. And I don't know ifI had been blessed to go to Howard,
if there's some things like that thatI would have really known, because
I know that I would have cocoonedwith my people and would have been just
overjoyed to be in that space,and I don't know that I would have
ventured out to to see what itwas like in the other part of the
world. So from Ohio, didyou go straight to LA? I graduated
(07:00):
from Akron Bachelor of Fine and AppliedArts Communications Journalism emphasis, and I came
out to LA the same year inOctober, and I came out shout out
to Evettelee Bowser. I came outbecause I had sent a letter, because
this is before even email, soI sent a letter to Vettelee Bowser and
I was like, how you at. My name's Evette two and we're both
(07:20):
at Ka's and I am a writerjust like you. I was not a
writer yet, Robin her I wasa writer. I lie, I really
wanted to be I really wanted tobe an actor. But I didn't think
she'd meet me if I said Iwanted to be an actor. And I
said, I just love to meetwith you and talk to you about maybe
working on living single. And tomy surprise, her assistant called me maybe
(07:40):
a week or so later. Thatmust have been some letter. It's crazy,
I know. I wonder if heVette still has it. She said
that she remember when I first mether years ago when I did half and
half her show she was doing atthe time. She said she remembered the
letter. I wonder if she keptit. But her assistant called and said,
hey, when can you be inLa. I just arbitrarily said October.
She said, okay, well you'reonly that's calendar for October seventeenth,
(08:01):
and that's the amazing And I hadno way to La. I had nowhere
to stay, but that meeting beingon the calendar made me scramble and a
shout out to Carmela Ferusia, mySpanish teacher at the University of Akron.
She bought my plane ticket to La. Yeah, she wanted me to chase
my dreams, and so she boughtmy plane ticket. And I had ever
(08:24):
had to go back. I've livedhere ever since. That is wonderful.
And then, so, what wasyour first big audition in La? First
big audition? The one thing youdidn't ask about my greatest regrets, But
I'm might swing there with this question. I big regret about coming to Las.
I didn't hit the ground running.I was very scared, and I
was chasing music for a few yearsand wasn't really thinking of acting, and
(08:46):
so I didn't start acting or auditioning. Until probably nineteen ninety eight, I
was working in offices. I endedup working at Motown. I was a
Michael Bivens assistant at Motown. Iworked at MGM, I worked at MCA.
I was bouncing around as an officetemp and illegal secretary and just about
every entertainment company in LA. Becauseagain it goes back to if I couldn't
(09:09):
do it for a living, Iwanted to be around it, so I
would work at a movie studio andget to go to the screenings and see
the movies early, or work ata record company and get to get all
the CDs for free. I feltlike I was living my dream in that
way. But I was in aplay at my church and DAVIDY Talbert,
who was like the Tyler Perry ofhis time, was casting for touring play,
(09:31):
a gospel play, and I didn'teven know it. I was performing
in my acting class at church andhe was there auditioning, and I ended
up getting asked to come in anaudition for a role. And I originated
a role in one of his playscalled His Woman his Wife, and went
on the road for eight months withhim and took a leave of absence from
my legal secretarial job at showtime.Shout out to Steve Rogers, my attorney
(09:52):
boss, who gave me a leaveof app since he said, we love
you, we want you to chasethe stream, go out for your job
will be waiting here. If youlove it, well, you can quit
them. If not, your jobwill be waiting for you. I was
out on the road for one weekand I called Steve and I said,
I am so sorry, but Ilove this and I wanted to stay out
here. And he was like,sad to see you go, but with
(10:15):
my blessing, please go. AndI've never had a full time job since.
What a great village that you attract. Yeah, it's a blessing yet
is so? What came first?Drake and Josh our community. The timeline
is when I finished the play,I came back to LA and I started
doing a whole bunch of commercials.Those commercials led to the Big House,
which is Kevin Hart's first television show. I did six episodes of that,
(10:39):
and while we were filming our sixepisodes, I got an audition for a
guest star role on Drake and Josh. Auditioned, I booked it, did
one episode as Helen, and thenthe Big House got picked up, so
I had to leave my role onDrake and Josh, and that's why there's
one episode of Drake and Josh whereI'm not Helen. Big House had gotten
canceled by then, and then Iwas able to go back and do fourteen
(11:00):
more episodes as Helen on Drake andJosh. And then so Drake and Josh
ended in two thousand and six ortwo thousand and seven, and then Community
came in two thousand and nine.What was Drake and Josh like? That
was a big hit show? Itwas a lot of fun. Like I
grew up on sitcoms and there wasa time when the only way you could
do with a multi camp sitcom wasif you did it on Disney or Nickelodeon.
(11:20):
And I grew up watching you can'tdo that on television and a lot
of the other Nickelodeon shows, andso to get the call to be on
a Nickelodeon show was a really bigdeal. And Dan Schneider was like the
biggest creator of television for kids onNickelodeon. So it was a lot of
fun and I got to watch thosebabies grow up like Miranda Cosgrove and Josh.
(11:41):
They were just really talented as babies, and you just knew that what
they had in nately was going togo on to be something amazing, and
it was nice to be able towitness it at the very beginning. Was
it a challenge working with kids?I didn't find it to be a challenge
because they were very professional kids,Like I don't know what'd be like to
work with a kid that hadn't alreadygrown up in the industry, like Miranda
(12:05):
had already done School of Rock Ithink when she did Drake and Josh,
and Josh and Drake had both beenon you know, The Amanda Show,
and so these kids were already seasonedprofessionals. They were more seasoned than I
was. This was like maybe thesecond or third thing I'd ever done.
So you got to ask them,was it challenge? Were with me because
(12:26):
I didn't know what I was doing? But I found them to be delightful.
Well was Kevin Hart? Like KevinHart is delightful and it's so funny.
He and I began our careers together. The Big House was my first
pilot season, the first pilot Iever booked, and it was his first
television show ever. We got kindof a We didn't get the love we
deserved, I think from our networkat the time, and I think that
(12:50):
we were a little bit ahead ofour time, so we only did like
six episodes. But to watch Kevinat the beginning of his career, everything
that he is now was in himat twenty three years old. I remember
Kevin was the first person I everheard in my life talk about a four
h one K and he was twentythree years old talking about He had a
meeting with his lawyer because he wantedto set up his four one K.
(13:11):
I'm thinking, you got forty yearsbefore you retire, and he was like,
well, this is how you justhow you make that money. You
got to get in there, andI just he was always a businessman.
He was always a mogul, evenbefore he became that. And the Big
House failed and he had a moviesole playing. Both were at the same
time. Both were supposed to makehim a household name, and both of
(13:31):
them failed and bombed. For himto rise from that in the way that
he's risen from that, I thinksays a lot about his belief in himself,
his understanding of how this industry worksand his ability to shift and bob
and weave, and I learned alot about that watching him as well.
See You're on shore that you thoughtwas going to be a hit and it's
not. So how did you feelabout that? You know, it's hard
(13:52):
to say because it was my firstshow ever, so I think it actually
prepared me for this industry in away that I wasn't even aware of.
It was kind of like my waxon, wax off paint the fence moment.
Because if your first show that's supposedto be a hit is not a
hit, then that means nothing's guaranteed. What a great lesson to learn at
the beginning of your career. Sothat every other show I go into I
(14:16):
am acutely aware that it could end. So I don't overspend, I don't
lose my mind. I see italways as an opportunity and a job,
and jobs end. Every show ends, most end before you're ready, but
I go in knowing fully that theycan end, no matter how great the
reviews are, no matter how greatthe star of the show is, it
(14:37):
could end. So that means youhave to save your money, always be
on the lookout for what your nextthing is and diversify and always have another
lane you can bounce into when thelane you're end drives up. So it
was a gift that the show gotcanceled talking about another lane. We met
because of issues, and I don'tknow if you realize it, but you're
a great risk taker and advocate formany issues, and as you do,
(15:00):
some of your fans won't like whatyou're advocating, and I just think that's
but I think that is just aspectacular trade about you. And we met
about one of the issues that theCreative Coalition was taking on, and you
jumped in with both feet and bothhands and all your fingers and toes.
And it's a gift to the issueas well as the Creative Collision. And
(15:22):
the issue I'm talking about is thislast of the shame and blame diseases obesity.
Yeah that you know, it's lookedon still today as something to be
ashamed of. People don't realize thathealthcare is available. And you were just
instrumental in jumping in and bringing yourpeers along with you, which is a
(15:43):
great gift. Well, thank youfor that. I actually do believe in
good trouble. I actually believe thatif you see something that's not right,
you should speak up. I havenever cared about fame, and I mean
it with my whole heart and soul. I don't care how many followers I
have. I don't care if peoplethink I'm amazing. It's more important that
(16:04):
I use whatever platform I have forgood. And I am never going to
not say something that needs to besaid or fight for something that needs to
be fought for because I'm concerned aboutwhat some company I work for thinks or
what someone who follows me thinks.I may be the only person that will
be able to speak that truth towhoever that person is. Now, if
(16:25):
I lose them, I pray thatGod blesses them as they go. But
I will never not speak up aboutwhat matters because of what someone else may
think. Never, And that's whyI do my research and I make sure
that what I'm speaking up about.I know. That's why I apologize if
I'm ever out of pocket or wrong. But I'm never going to apologize for
(16:48):
fighting the fighting for what's good.Never Ever, What moved you about this
issue of obesity. I've been obese, I may be obese again. You
know what I mean? Like Iate myself into diabete when I was on
the community set. I talk aboutit all the time, and I don't
have to talk about my weight struggles. You can just go to Getty Images
and take a nice long walk throughmy ups and downs with weight. I
(17:11):
know that you can exercise every singleday and restrict what you eat and still
and still be bigger than people thinkyou should be. I know that you
can be You can eat all dayand not exercise and be as thin as
a rail. It is a Itis how your body processes the food that
goes into your body. It's howyour body eliminates, how your body uses
(17:33):
energy, either effectively or not.That's it is. It is a health
issue. It is not a willpowerissue. It's not a something that should
be shameful. You know, youhave no control over the body that you
get when you get here. Youhave no control over it. And I
think a lot of times people thatthat don't grasp that, they end up
doing their bodies more harmed by overexercising and starving themselves to achieve some ideal
(17:59):
that just their body may not becapable of. And every time we shame
someone because their body doesn't look theway we think it should. We're adding
fuel to a fire that is alreadydestroying people's lives and spirits. So it
was very easy for me to stepinto be a part of things that discuss
what obesity really is, what thecauses are, and provide a soft space
(18:26):
for people to land who are whoare dealing with it, because, like
I said, I'm one of thepeople that in my life I have dealt
with it. Did it impact yourgrowing up at all? You know?
I actually have never really been affectedby what people think of me physically,
you know what I mean. LikeI'm a I'm a woman in America,
so of course I had through myteenage years. You're looking through magazines and
you don't and as a black woman, you definitely didn't see yourself. So
(18:47):
I didn't see myself from my bodytype reflected back to me. But I
thought that was their loss, youknow what I mean, Like I didn't
take it like there was something wrongwith me, and I I had moments
like in my twenties, I thinkwhere I especially first moved into LA where
for a minute I thought I haveto be a certain thing. But I
also have lived my whole life inmy body and my body don't like being
(19:11):
a size too. You don't notno size too or no zero. So
I knew that I was not goingto kill myself trying to make my body
into something that it wasn't. Andhonestly, I've worked more as a as
a thick girl I was then I'veever would have worked as a tiny person,
because if you're a tiny person,you're a dime a dozen in la.
If you've got some curves to yourlittle fluffiness, you kind of stand
(19:33):
out. So yeah, I've neverIt's never really affected my self esteem in
that way. It's interesting that I'mtalking about advocacy and talking about the entertainment
industry and advocacy, we are reallyworking hard to get obesity accepted as a
disease and that one shouldn't be ashamed. We did a short film competition on
this, and we certainly heard alot of stories, and again, in
(19:56):
your beautiful, beautiful, gentle,take charge manner, you became the format
of our jury for this short competitionbecause you do it and you just it's
just so, you know, inyour gentle way. After hearing you know
so many stories, do you thinkit's something that we're going to start tackling
as an industry as this type ofawareness. I mean, I hope.
(20:19):
So it's the same thing with questionsabout whether you know people of color or
ever. Our stories are ever goingto be told in a way that people
understand. You're not going to getto the truth in the heart of what
having obesity is like unless you havemore people in positions of decision making that
struggle with obesity. Right. Ifif your network head is chubby, then
(20:47):
they have a softer spot for storiesabout those that are chubby. Right,
If you have a showrunner who's thick, then they will be more open to
seeing actors that are thick in storiesthat show the truth of what it's like
to move through the world as aperson with extra pounds. Right. But
(21:07):
as long as the people that aremaking the decision don't struggle with it,
they don't really understand what the struggleis, so it's hard to see more
things that shine a light on it. Because that was what we went through
even with the jury, Right,a lot of the people that were presenting
their projects had no idea what it'slike to be overweight, and I found
some of the ways they wanted todepict it to be kind of insulting,
(21:32):
and it showed me that they hadno idea what it's like to go through
it and to deal with it.And so again it just highlighted to me
that the people that are making theprojects about it need to have some skin
in the game. It's shocking thatthere it is not an orphan disease,
yet it's treated as this, youknow disease. It doesn't really affect many
(21:52):
people, yet what is it forany can Americans half of the viewership of
entertainment? Yep? If you've beentold your whole life that the problem is
you and you're to be ashamed,then why would you raise your hand and
go, we should be treated fairly. Like I even joke, and this
is a joke, but it isactually true. I always say the joke
(22:15):
that I ate myself to diabetes onthe community set because I was stressed out
because we are hours were long orwhatever, and I did eat my way
to diabetes. But within that itkind of there is a shame aspect that
I'm applying to myself, like almostlike I deserve to be sick because I
did it to myself. And that'sthe same feeling that a lot of people
that are dealing with obesity feel it'slike, well, I'm the one that
(22:37):
ate the bond bonds, or I'mthe one that didn't stay on the treadmill
for two hours instead of one,When again, it goes back to your
body may not process food the wayother people people's bodies do, and you
could have stayed on the treadmill ofthat extra hour, and you just would
have been sweating for an extra hourand still be three hundred pounds like you
have to we have to get tothe point where people understand that this is
not this is not about will hour, This is not it's there are there
(23:03):
are things that you can do thatare healthier. Like I have diabetes,
which means I should not be eatingsugar the way I eat sugar. Like
that's a change that I can make, but it's a medical disease. I
just treasure the fact that you're inthe fray right now with us. You're
willing to come out and say everythingthat you're saying because it's this weirdly guarded
(23:26):
secret. Yeah, I don't mindbeing on the front lines of any righteous
battle. I had a friend tellme once that I was built for rebuttal
and I swear I'm gonna make Tshirts because I really am, and I
fight the hardest for other people likeI will always fight more for injustice happening
to other people than anything happening tome. The only time I rise up
(23:47):
for myself is if somebody says I'mnot a good person, because I'm a
very I'm a decent person. Ilove people and I do my best too
to care for folks, and soif somebody tries to paint me as if
I'm hateful or mean spirited, Iwill go you know what I mean.
But otherwise they can call me ugly, fat, old. I don't care.
You can't act okay like those thingsI don't care about, but don't
(24:08):
come from my character and don't comefor anybody else for any reason, because
I will rise up. Well,you mentioned Community, Yeah, tell me
about the audition for Community. Communitywas every black woman that has ever acted
in the world was at that audition. When I tell you, an entire
(24:29):
parking lot and office was filled withamazing black actresses, most that had been
on series. Every face that Isaw was someone that I respected. They
cast a very wide net. Imean every age from like sixties and seventies
down to twenties. It was everyevery black actress. And I think that's
what gave me an edge up ifI say that, because there were so
(24:53):
many amazing actresses there, I waslike, I'm never gonna get it.
So I had no nervousness. Iwasn't nervous at all. I was just
soon in there and you know,do my best and and just have a
nice time and hopefully make a fanin the room that will bring me in
to be a guest star on theshow at some point, because there's no
way I'm booking this if her andshe and her and her and she,
if they're all here, it ain'tgoing my way. So and it was
(25:15):
a long audition, like I wasthere like two or three hours. And
I remember one of my friends whohad already auditioned. I always want to
say that. I asked her.I said, do you think that I
should stay? She said, no, girl, you should go now.
She had already auditioned, so shewas trying to get the competition up by
the by this point, I hadalready put in like two hours, and
(25:37):
I was like, I'm not gonnagive up now. I'm like number I'm
coming up soon, and you know, I'm glad I stayed. I went
in auditioned and Dan Harmon brought theRusso brothers had been in the room,
but they had to step out becausethey were our executive producers. They had
to step out to take a callabout another cast member. So it was
just me, Dan Harmon, andour casting associate and our casting director in
their associate. And so when Idid the the role first the first audition,
(26:02):
Dan said, can you just waita minute, I want to show
you to my friends, And thenhe went out and got the Russo's off
the call and brought them back intothe room for me to audition again for
them, which I thought was agood sign because you know, why would
you bring in take people off acall if you didn't like what the girl
just did. And then I,you know, I booked it. I
(26:22):
think I had maybe one more oneor two more auditions after that, like
Network and studio. But yeah,did you like the character Shirley? I
really did like Shirley. Shirley's shewas a Christian, She's we were a
lot alike. I think Shirley's alot more judgmental than me, and Shirley
was, of course married, divorce, had kids. I don't have kids,
I'm not married. But I reallyliked her. I liked that.
(26:44):
I liked that Shirley is trying tobe a good person. Shirley is not
always a good person, but sheis at least trying to be a good
person. And I think she thinksshe's doing good. I actually identified it
was Shirley in that. Yeah,she was always trying to be good and
she would see try and see thebest of everyone without being Pollyanna just right.
(27:06):
And it's like I would strive tobe better like that. Yeah,
to be not she was. Shedidn't seem to be judgmental, but to
try to find the good. Yeah. Well she was judgmental in her religion,
you know, she was, sheactually, and I think her her
religion is what made her a littlerigid with other people's religion in their choices.
But she did love people anyway.She just always wanted to make sure
(27:29):
that they knew this is not good, you know what I mean. So,
yeah, but I like her alot. I think she's I think
she's messy and flawed, like everybodyat Greendale was. And uh, I
think she she put a lot ofshe brought a lot of heart to the
study group. You know, thecast you are, you and your castmates,
I mean phenomenal, Thank you whoyou know what you all did and
what what you It was such aI think it was that was another show
(27:52):
before it's time. Yeah, justyou know, you just went out there.
What you'd think about what they werethey really going to say it?
And then you went you went downthat exit ramp and it was a masterpiece.
But tell me about the cast membersare you did you like working with
them? I did? I didyou realize about the lightning in the bottle
(28:14):
that you all had? You know, I don't know that we we thought.
I don't ever remember sitting at thestudy room table going this group is
going places. You know. Idon't know that I thought of that about
us collectively. I knew that wereally liked each other. I knew that
we enjoyed making each other laugh.And I knew that each of them were
ridiculously talented and that anything they puttheir hand to would would thrive. I
(28:38):
did know that instinctively. But asfar as going, this ensemble is going
to be one for the record books, Like, I still don't say that
I don't I'll say it that ensembleis one for I wouldn't even be able
to say it because I'm a partof it. And you know what I
mean. I could say it aboutthem if I wasn't in there, but
I can't do it if I'm inthere, And I just I just not
built that way. But um yeah, I still I stand in awe of
(29:03):
what every one of them has donesince and stand in wonder of all that
they're going to do, you know, because they they only just scratched the
surface of what they're going to doin this entertainment industry, you know,
in front of end, behind thescenes. What was funny your favorite episodes
of Community? I really love thefirst flashback episode where we went to Universal
(29:29):
Studios and it was all those reallyquick cuts. I remember the scene where
Shirley is selling her the first timewe hear about Lady Miss Lady Comet cosmetics,
and it's just something so funny tome that she makes them open up
their safe, their security seal,and then as soon as they open and
she goes, now you owe metwenty dollars, and I just thought that
was so and it might even bemore than twenty, and their faces just
(29:52):
fall. I just thought it wassuch a perfect example of Shirley's foolishness,
and there were just little quick cutslike that of everybody's mess Each one of
the of our study group members messis like shown for like thirty seconds in
that episode. So I really lovethat episode. And I love the Lawn
Order episode because I'm a huge Lawand Order fan. Yeah, so it
was great to get to to beum, you know, the lieutenant in
(30:15):
that. That was pretty cool.And how I was working with Dan Harmon.
I yes, I love Dan Harmon. Um. I call him Harmon,
and he and I have such aninteresting relationship, like it's kind of
cantankerous but loving, and he heacts as if I'm not one of his
(30:37):
favorite humans. But I know thatI am. Now it's officials on this
past. Yeah, yeah, Iknow that I am mad, but no,
he Um, I'm so grateful thathe gave me the role of Shirley.
And I think that, you know, he's kind of my a bed
in that I think that I humblehim and he humbles me, you know
what I mean. I think Ithink that now you'd have to have him
(31:00):
on the podcast to see if whatI just said was true at him.
On the other he's on the list, he's on the list, he's but
on the list. Yeah, ButI know, I really like him,
and I think that he's UM.I think that he is prolific, and
I think the word genius is used, you know, freely in this industry.
But I do think for what hedoes, the way his mind works,
I think he is a genius aidwhat he does in this industry.
(31:21):
And I think Rick and Morty kindof proves that UM beyond community was did
you ever did you ever break?Right? I mean the scripts were just
so a long, We're so outrageous. Did you ever just break up?
And was hard? You guys rememberlaughing? Oh yeah, you're working hard.
Yeah. We each have a weeach have a breaking style. UM.
(31:44):
Some of us will break Allison break, will break and then start crying,
causing makeup and hear makeup to haveto come in and adjust. UM.
Some break readily without any shame orapology. Danny Pootty, Um.
Some of us never break, UM, but we'll cause everyone to break.
(32:06):
Donald Clover um, and some ofus break yet try to hide it poorly.
Gilly and Jacobs. Um. Idon't break for a very very long
time, because again, my goalis for everyone to leave and go home.
Right. The problem is, onceI do break, I'm gone,
(32:27):
like shut the lights off, everybodygood night, because I can't. Once
once I get tickled, I cannotnot be tickled. Um. And the
bad thing is my castmates know that, so once I finally do break,
they just keep adding on until it'sit's just all over. So yeah,
so we broke all the time.I mean, there's the bloopers show that
the bloopers um And that's probably whyour hours were so long too, because
(32:52):
we were always in the middle ofa scene cracking up and doing things to
make each other crack up. Doyou think they'll be a movie? Everyone
wants to know? They're totally bea movie. Of course, we just
don't know when, Like we gotto scare everybody's so busy and famous.
They're also famous and rich. Whatdo you want to happen in the movie?
You know? What about it?I've actually never thought about what I
(33:15):
would want the movie to be.I always feel like that's above my pay
grade, you know, because Danasaid. Dan Harmon has said recently that,
you know, he has to servicethe community fans that already know the
show, and then he also hasto service, you know, hopefully new
people that would want to figure outwhat what you know, what's all this
hub up about Community? So that'sa that's a heavy lift, that's a
(33:37):
that's quite a needle to thread.So I don't I would just want us
all back together at the table forsome purpose. Um that that you know
makes us feel the warm fuzzies ofthe old show, like something that feels
nostalgic. So he did Community foryears and you left. You talked a
(33:59):
little bit about that. I wassad to leave my friends, but I
left to be a caregiver. I'ma caregiver for my father who has dementia.
I've had him, it'll be nineyears in December. He lives with
me, and he needed he neededme, and Community was sixteen hour days
and I can't take care of mydad and do sixteen hour days of work.
So I went to Dan Harmon andSony and asked to be released,
(34:21):
and they kindly let me go soI could take care of my dad.
So that's the reason why I'm notin season six of Community. I know
some fans at the time thought Ijust thought I was somebody special, and
I thought, you know, Igot a lot of heat from people because
they didn't understand that I made thedecision for my family. But family comes
first, and I don't chase fameor notoriety. And I don't need people
to love me if it means thatI have to leave my family in the
(34:44):
cold to receive and or keep thatlove. So anyone that didn't understand,
even to this day, I'm finewith it. You ain't got to understand.
I did the right thing for mydad. You did, You did
sign beautiful for it. I mean, it's just it's who you are,
who I hope to be, whoI try to be, and now you
are an Emmy nominee. I can'tbelieve it. I am, I can't
(35:07):
believe it. Tell me about theBlack Lady Sketch Show. Black Lady Sketch
Show. Black Lady Sketch Show isan amazing show created by Robin Thady and
Issa Ray that airs on HBO andHBO Max and it is a love letter
to black comedic women. It isan opportunity for black comedic women to show
(35:30):
every single version of themselves and everysingle version of their wackiness and their brilliance
and their beauty and it's a safespace to visit. And I have been
blessed to visit each season that they'vehad. So I've been on the show
two times and I've played the samecharacter, Judge Nita Harper and our sketches
Courtroom Kiki, and I got nominatedfor our Standing Guest Actress Comedy for playing
(35:54):
Judge Harper, which I don't evenknow where to file that in my brain.
That just really amazing. Where wereyou when you heard? I was
in Ireland still I was disenchanted forDisney and I was in a dressing room
of a department store called Brown Thomaswith Maya Rudolph and our friend Joe,
an Irish lady named Joe, andwe were all just trying on clothes and
(36:16):
you know, having a let's getout of our apartments for a day thing.
And Maya nor I even realized thatit was Emmy nomination day. She
had her phone off and mine wason Vibrate and I got a text from
Robin Thady from Black Ladies Sketch Showand all she had in the email was
in the text was OMG. AndI'm like, oh gosh, I hope
(36:37):
Robin's okay, what's going on andopened the text and it's like you got
you got nominated, And I waslike for what, like I just was
and what award show? Like Iwas so discombibulated. I didn't understand because
we were eight hours ahead, umin Ireland. I was like, what
is happening? And I've read furtherand then my agent popped in and then
my text started going crazy and that'show I found out. And then I
(36:59):
was the one that told Maya Rudolphthat she was nominated because we're nominated in
the same the same category, becauseyeah, that is great. Yeah,
no, it was a great moment. And we spent the rest of the
day drinking guinness and bouncing from pubto pub because I perfect way, perfect
way, that is the right thatyou were together and you were together in
this upcoming movie, right, Yeah, I getting to know Maya Rudolf has
(37:23):
probably been besides Ireland and of courseyou Adam Shankman and Amy Adams like it's
it's a great group, but um, I work with Maya and jam amays
the most, and um, gettingto spend time with both of them and
build a friendship with both of themhas been like the gift that I will
will take with me from Ireland.So had you been in a Disney studio
(37:45):
movie before? Well, yes,I was in Lady in the Tramp the
first Yes. No, yeah,so I was in I was in Lady
in the Tramp. And of courseyou know, my show Big Shot is
on Disney Plus, and I doa lot of cartoons, um Elena of
Avalor and Chicken Squad and uh,this one I can't even talk about that's
(38:05):
not out yet. So I doa lot of cartoons for Disney. Um.
But this is my second live actionfilm for Disney. Oh and also
you know I was in a littlefilm called The Avengers, that little film
film. Yeah, so yeah,this but this is my my second with
an actual big role. And youknow in the opening credits type situation,
what's the Moth about? Well,it's a it's a sequel to Enchanted,
(38:27):
Disney's Enchanted, So it's continuing thestory of Giselle and Robert and their their
daughter Morgan um in the world.That's all I can say, what role
at all? I can tell youthat I'm in it, and that most
of my work is with Maya,Rudolph and Jama and Maya has admitted that
she's the villain in the in thepiece, so you can you know,
(38:50):
you can deduce what so so wecan deduce, you can deduce whatever.
And speaking of Avengers, what wasthat like? Awesome? It was a
reunion with the Russo brothers, whoagain produced UM Executive produced UM Community.
And they love to they used they'dlove to give Community uh cameos in Avenger
(39:13):
films. They like us to bethe little Easter egg. And so it
was my turn and I got tobe in the elevator with you know,
Chris Evans and Robert Downey Junior ironMan and Captain America. And I almost
foiled the entire plan of end Game. I love that you're saying foiled it.
I say that, I know.Listen, I'm old that's one of
that's where we foiled again. Butyeah, I almost right. Um,
(39:37):
I almost derailed everything the Avenger spentmost of the film trying to do.
But thankfully, you know, itdidn't work. And I was just doing
my job. Some people have askedme if I was Hydra, and I
would never be Hydra or Sith.I am a Agent of Shield, Jedi
kind of person, So I haveone last question. Sure, think of
(39:58):
that. So you're that Roland,I guess more than in college and you're
sitting in that class because you think, well, maybe I'll be an educator,
maybe I'll teach kid think you said, and you're in your education class
or your early childhood class classes foreducation. I decided I was going to
be a journalist by then. Butokay, all right, get your more
(40:19):
journalist and class. And you're thinkingyou're going to be you know, Oprah,
and you're getting your you're getting yourpulits or out. You need to
get an outfer ready, right?Where do you whisper in the ear of
that sophomore in college? I wouldtell her that it gets it gets really
scary at times, but it alwaysgets better, and you just got to
(40:42):
make it through the times where itfeels like all is lost. And that's
something I would whisper into any sophomoreears. I feel like it. Life
is tricky. I saw this memethat said life is tricky. Life is
tricky, baby, stay in yourmagic, and that literally is what I
feel like. I would whisper intothe ears of anybody who's like nineteen or
twenty in the world, like lifeis tricky, baby, Stay in your
(41:02):
magic, find a way to keepthe sense of wonder and hope about your
future because there's going to be alot of difficult things you have to endure.
But if you stay the course,it's going to always get better.
Then it's gonna get bad again,then get better, then to get bad
again, then you'll get better.But that's what life is, and it's
just managing the difficult times and alsoholding onto whatever gem of truth or growth
(41:30):
or understanding that you get in thegood times. Like I say, wrap
that stuff up and bubble wrap andkeep it safe and pull it off the
shelf when it's time to fight adragon again and let that be the thing
that tied you over. That wasfun. Thanks everyone for tuning in,
and Yvette, thank you for joiningus today. I kind of love just
(41:51):
hanging out with you everyone. Comeback next time where we'll sit down with
one of the brilliant minds behind EmmyAward winning series How I Met Your Mother,
and one day at a time weget to hang with Gloria Calderon Kellett.
See everyone soon. You've been listeningto On the Edge, a podcast
series from the Creative Coalition hosted byCreative Coalition CEO Robin Bronk. For more
(42:17):
information on how you can protect fundingfor the arts and harness the power of
the arts to promote social good,visit us at the Creative Coalition dot org.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd is a thought-provoking, opinionated, and topic-driven journey through the top sports stories of the day.