September 9, 2025 • 42 mins
Actress Hannaha Hall joins the conversation to talk all things The Chi and beyond. Known for her layered portrayal of Tiffany, Hall opens up about her passion for comic books, sci-fi, and fantasy storytelling. She shares what draws her to imaginative worlds, how her love for the genre has influenced her creative path, and what she hopes to see for her character’s growth. This intimate interview explores the intersections of pop culture, identity, and personal evolution — all through the lens of a rising star who proudly reps her inner nerd.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are black in the green room with me, your host,
Keith Underwood, and this is your spot for real talk
about entertainment with the entertainers, creatives and show viz professionals.
So today's guest is the incredibly talented Hannah Hall, who
you know as Tiffany from Showtimes The Shy. She's real
(00:21):
raw and making ways both on screen and behind the scenes.
Whether it's her work as an actress, or her love
for comic books, or her artistic eye off camera, she
brings attention to everything that she does. Let's get into it. Hannah,
Welcome to the room.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Thank you, Thank you so much. That is an awesome introductory.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
No problem at all. How you doing.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I feel good. I feel good. I'm in Chicago. It's
a good day. It's an amazing summer, so I feel good.
How about you?
Speaker 1 (00:52):
You know I'm doing good too. It's LA and it's
a nice day in LA. It's a little warm for us,
but nothing like the humidity that's in Chicago.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Yeah yeah, but you know, we appreciate it because our
weather isn't as consistent as it is out there in La.
So we we take advantage of our warm days out here. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Absolutely, absolutely, you're originally from.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Chicago, I am born and raised.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Did that Did that have any parts in you getting
the part of Tiffany?
Speaker 2 (01:23):
I think, you know, when it comes to budget and production,
saving money to hire a local is always you know,
working their advantage. But I will say this, it was
a It was a timing thing because it just wasn't
a lot of productions at the time. So it was
good that I was in Chicago and wasn't outsourcing myself
because you know that's typical to go to New York,
(01:43):
LA or Atlanta. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Yeah, yeah, So I was really really surprised to find
out that you are a big comic book fan.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Oh my god, this I'm laughing because yes, that is
something about me. I love comics.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Yeah, well it's crazy. I'm a huge comic book fan
as well, like even created one. But it's just so, oh,
thank you, thank you very much. So what if you
could be any superhero in film, and whether it's Marvel
or DC or something indie, what would your character be like?
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Oh, you know, everybody always go for the superheroes, but
you know what, I've been leaning into the villains. Okay,
we're telling people, you know what, I would love to
play a riddler. I feel like, you know that that's
obviously a male role, but who get more riddles than women?
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Well, hello, should give it.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
To a woman. And you know, this day in age,
when we're telling stories, especially in Hollywood, things are shifting.
Oh you know, they're allowing women to play male roles
and male to play women roles. So it's an opportunity.
But but yeah, I always I'm very fascinated with the villains.
I think we all kind of grew up loving like
the go tos, like the storms and stuff. I will
(03:04):
say it was my my friend, I can't remember the
name of the character was just terrible, but my good
friend was like, you know what will be a good one?
The Lady Green Lantern.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Oh yeah, you know what that is?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
One in a while though.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
So yeah, no, that would be interesting. So if you
if you had your choice of superpowers, whether it was
as a superhero in your personal life, what would that
superpower be?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Mm hm, carve me telepathy?
Speaker 1 (03:33):
How come?
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Because I feel like that's if you can control somebody mind,
you you have all the control right anything?
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Right? Look a little scary, but I feel you on
that though.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
It is very scary. But look imagine how much we
can eat, we could do even with the politics and
stuff we could change. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Yeah, now you do have a point there, So maybe
till that that he could be really good on your
next trip to DC. Good, good, good. So you've mentioned
that in the past that writing is also one of
your hot hobbies. What kind of writing do you enjoy
the most and does it feed your work as an
(04:20):
actor too.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
It absolutely feeds my work as an actor. And you know,
we we break down characters, and when you write in
you're breaking down this story. But I want to say
that what I enjoy I'm such a weirdo. I'm not,
and I mean that in every good way. Like I'm
a proud weirdo. But I love sci fi and I've
(04:44):
written things sci fi related, but anything just out of
the box, out of the ordinary, things that you don't expect,
especially in the world where it's like there's a lot
of repeat story repeats, like Okay, you know you're reading
and something you like, I can see what this is going,
you know, But something that's out of the box, something
that you didn't think about, like and I love the world,
(05:05):
like the sci fi world you can really explore and
there's no boundaries to that.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Absolutely absolutely, So let's see here. So you I've also
heard I'm tapping into all your little creative outlets here
that you also have a great eye for photography and
for style, especially on the ground. So do you see
yourself stepping behind the camera one day?
Speaker 2 (05:33):
You know, that's such an interesting question. A lot of
people ask me that because I'm souper into photography and cinematography.
I stand by the cinematographer when we're shooting, and I
love it. I love the art of it. But I
don't know if I will be a director, if it
ever now in my life. No, maybe ten twenty years
from now. I may find an interest in that. Like
(05:55):
I love writing, I love just setting up shots and
stuff stories. I love everything else, But I'm like a director.
You have to be so detail oriented and so intentional.
Directors fill in the gap, but what we can't do.
They're driving the ship, and it's just such a huge
responsibility that you have to be extremely passionate about. And
(06:18):
because my passion is more so towards acting and writing
and other stuff, I just wouldn't pursue directing now because
I wouldn't give it all, Right, but I do enjoy it.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Yeah. Nice, nice, nice Hannah. So, if you had to
step outside of yourself right and direct yourself, what are
some of the major notes you would give yourself.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Oh, man, I would tell myself be more confident. I
know that's a thing, but it's real. I would tell
myself be more confident, be more fearless, take more risks.
(07:03):
You know, this industry is so fickle, it's so unpredictable.
But true enough, Like when you think about a risk,
fear comes with that, but it's so much beyond that risk. Like,
each time you take a risk, it's something beyond it.
Even if it's a failure, there's lessons and failure, there's
great lessons in the best lessons. And sometimes I like,
(07:27):
I take risks, but I could be overly conscious. I
could be you know, just kind of overthinking it and
not making that step forward. And you know, I think
telling myself to just really push on that. Especially in
this industry, you have to have that to really exceed.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Yeah, why do you think that's important for all actors
to be to come outside of their comfort zones to
take those.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Risks because it's such a competitive industry. Like the next
person is doing it and who's not doing it? It
is not getting anywhere. And it's unfortunate to say because
it's so many talented people, but sometimes that'll be the
thing that hinders you and prevents you from moving forward,
like this is this is a really competitive industry. M hm.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Absolutely. When it came to when it comes to the
shyt what was one of those moments when you were like,
I don't know, but you went ahead and you did
it anyway.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
I will say my first audition for the shot, it
was like a I don't know. I auditioned for Kesha
and I remember the audition, Oh god, this is kind
of this is a lot. The audition started with her
and she was finishing up a moment. It was something
(08:49):
I was not prepared to easy, and I had you
pep talk myself and say do it, just do it.
And essentially, I mean I didn't book ended up switching
me to Tiff, but that's what booked this role for me,
telling myself just do it, don't think about nothing else,
just going out out dish world. And I did embarrass myself.
(09:10):
I remember they were like the casting director was like, uh,
you know not this, don't do it. This way, I
was like, oh my god. But I threw all of
that to the side and it was just like do it.
So I experienced that in the beginning, and then honestly,
this past season it was a lot because I was like,
she's pregnant, she's grieving, and she's not just grieving anybody,
(09:35):
She's grieving her lover. It was a lie for me,
and it was intimidating because I want to tell these
stories and I want to be as true as possible,
and I'm like, I've never experienced it, so I'm gonna
have to dabble into every bit of grief that I've
ever experienced, because the grief of a lover is different.
(09:55):
But yeah, so this season was really tough and it
was a lot of just do it, Just do it
be in the moment. And I'm so grateful for my
co stars because they really really help us, like we
help each other. We're it's like a basketball game. They're
laying it up, we're dunking.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
It, you know, right, And it seems it's so funny
because it seems that way. It seems like there's a
very family environment, especially when I've seen you guys do
interviews because I can always clock the fakeness. But when
I've seen you guys do interviews together, it seems very real.
So it's just weird. So how do you how do
you transition from like Okay, we cool, we buddy buddy
(10:31):
to shoot somebody in the head. How does that transition happen?
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Oh my god, It's one of the things you kind
of just gott to lock in. M you gotta lock
in and say like, yeah, this is this is the story.
It's it's funny. We'll be sitting on sitting we'll be
laughing and chatting, but then we're yelling at each other,
or we gotta scene like me and Jill Marie Jones.
I don't know if you remember that scene. She kind
(10:57):
of approaches me and tells me, why would you tell
do to this something? Me and Jill are like this.
It was like we had to, you know, put aside
the laugh very I remember Jail even went in the
back and like she disappeared, and I was like, where
did Jill go? And she disappeared. But then when she
(11:20):
came in that scene and he said, actually she was
on me, and I was like, okay, I see what
she did. She like go to the side and you know,
get it together and then come and deliver. Basically, yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Wow. You mentioned earlier that you auditioned for Keisha and
then got Tiff. Were you a little disappointed? But what
did you come to love about Tiff?
Speaker 2 (11:46):
I actually was not disappointed. I remember at the time,
and I'm just I'm giving all I'm being very very candid. Yes,
it was for Keisha. It said nudity, so I immediately
told my team, I'm not comfortable with this, but I
would love to be in front of the casting director.
So ideally them switching me over the Tiff was perfect
for me because I just wasn't prepared for that. And
(12:08):
could I commend Burgundy Baker because she's amazing, like you know,
she she went in there, she killed it, and anybody
who you know do take on those type of roles,
like I commend you. You guys are awesome. But I
just wasn't in that space. Going back to confidence, but yeah,
like I wasn't disappointed, And with Tiff, I just love
(12:31):
how she's this progressive black woman. She's doing things that
you would not expect this young, attractive girl from the
South side of Chicago to do. But I can't even
believe that they've written her this much like it was
not supposed.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
To be like this, right, I kind of I kind
of picked up on that, and that's and it's interesting
that you say that what what what do you think
made and be real, be honest and you know, a
little egotistical to a take said, but what do you
think made the writers and the producer say like, Okay,
let's let's give her a little bit more meat, let's
(13:07):
expand this character.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
To be honest with you, I really don't know, but
I'm gonna think I'm gonna give you what I think.
I do think that first scene with Tiff was a
very explosive scene. She comes in this this shoe store,
she's smacking em it, she's calling this commotion, and it
was a very it was very Chicago. I'm very Chicago.
(13:31):
Anybody who knows a Chicago person, I'm that they just really,
you know, leaned in today like she's very Chicago. So
we have that authenticity on the show because a lot
of our actors they're not chicagoing. So just having that
on the show, you know, probably benefited benefited them. But
also it was an explosive scene. I think it was
(13:53):
a good scene, A good a great like starting scene
for a character.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Right right, which which act or who's not from Chicago
serves the most Chicago when they're doing.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
They she does, I would definitely.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Give it to her, right she could, she could be
an adopted sister of.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
It, like definitely, like you would not think. And I
think she's from North Carolina and Chicago was kinda we
look country too, So I guess that's probably why you
know Jacob he's from Milwaukee. He Jacob doesn't really give
Chicago Chicago, but he does a great job like just
showing a Chicago person. But yeah, I would definitely say
(14:36):
probably birds.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Yeah, you spend a lot of time with your see
your seeing partner in the last what two two seasons,
three seasons with Lynn Whitfield. What is that? Like?
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Oh my god, it's so amazing. First off, we've all
watched Lynn, Like Lynn is iconic in an industry, so
it was an honor and a blessing. She's funny as heck,
which is like always my cup of tea because I'm
a class clown myself, so that was always an enjoyable experience.
(15:10):
But also, you know, to work under someone like that,
especially being a woman. It was like I was a
student a lot, and I enjoyed being a student. I
enjoy being able to soak up as much as I can,
and I didn't. It's interesting. We never like approached her like, hey,
can you give us advice on this? But she'll drop
(15:30):
those gems and you just gotta know when to pick
them up. So that was a beautiful experience. And then
she helped me really them bring out some of the
emotion and you know, understand the moments that were happening.
So I really appreciate just the opportunity to work with her.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Yeah, And it's interesting because even though with her, I mean,
even though the character is really like hard, but with you,
there's this real maternal energy, but you just never know
what she's gonna switch it up. Yeah, yeah, what are
your thoughts about that?
Speaker 2 (16:07):
You know, that's the writing. We gotta give it to
lean away from now. The writing. That unpredictability is something
that I enjoy, like truly, it's just something we kind
of got to grow with the punches on and appreciate
when it comes to writing and story to telling, because
I think those are the best stories. Like I said,
you don't want to Nobody wants to watch a movie
(16:28):
where you can, you know, predict the ending. You don't
want to watch something where you're like, wait a minute,
let me keep myn let me let me stay in tune,
let me make sure I'm paying attention so I can
see why this, like what's gonna happen next? And why?
Speaker 1 (16:41):
You know?
Speaker 2 (16:42):
So I think I have to commend them on that.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Yeah. One of the questions that I that I like
to ask a lot of actors when you have a
very complex role, right, how do you remove yourself from
any very emotional scene and come back to Hannah.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Oh that's such a great question. And you know, I
want to say this to Detaching yourself is not only
vital for emotional scenes but just in general. Like fourth
season of Is Shy, we explored open marriage and that
was something I was like, if Hannah was like this,
(17:24):
I didn't like. I just Hannah wouldn't make those decisions.
But tiff Wood or whoever else said this may work
for would And I remember struggling with that and I'm like, Hannah,
you just gotta really really tell you, like, you gotta
sit yourself now. And it sounds crazy, but you have
to set yourself down and say like, hey, this is
(17:46):
the character, and this is Hannah. You wouldn't do these things,
but your character might. And I think it's our job
to just understand and respect that we have to serve
the story. And that was my goal. But I will
say this, that requires so much stability in every area
of your life. You have to be mentally, spiritually, emotionally
(18:07):
healthy and stable and balance to really be able to
successfully detach yourself. For me, it was just a reminder
like telling myself like, Hannah, this is not you, this
is not you, and making sure I create a life
outside of work, like I have hobbies, I have state,
like I love my home, I love coming home and stuff.
Everything doesn't just revolve around acting. It's other things that
(18:31):
I do. So I think creating that life outside of work,
understanding who you are, grounding yourself and that and also
like you know, you don't have to speed into your character,
like when it comes to social media, like ground you,
you can be you on social media too, and that's okay.
And I think the more you're you aching yourself and
your identity is easier for you to detach.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Yes, nice, and you know, we have frontiers everybody has frontiers.
Hannah had the opportunity to hang out with Tiffany, would
she and where would she be on that totem poll
of friends?
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Mmm? I would. I would definitely hang out with Tiffany.
I don't think she would be a person I hang
out with all the time, like the best thing. No,
but you know, maybe a homegirl. We kick it every
now and then we go out to eat. We we
know each other, you know, we probably know each other's families,
but nothing too too close, you know, but yeah, yes, what? Uh?
Speaker 1 (19:38):
So you so you said nothing? Why? Why is that.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Tiffany can be a bit unhinged. And while I respect
her decisions and her her ambition as a young woman,
our values, all of our values don't align. And the
truth is, sometimes when your values on the line with people,
it's hard to really mess you have to like place
(20:03):
them like, Okay, I can I can be connected with
them in this way and that way, but maybe not
this way. You know. I wouldn't go to Tiffany for relationship, yes,
you know.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
And it's so funny because it's always folks like that
that want to cling to you the most that you're
trying to kind of keep a little bit of distance
between you and them. That's that's crazy. So what what
can you tell us about, Well, what you've discovered about
yourself from playing Tiffany.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Ooh, that's a really good question. But I've discovered so much,
Like I've grown so much, even like having respect and
grace for other people, Like I was saying with the
open marriage, you know, that's not something I would do,
but I had to really understand that it's not my
place to place judgment on somebody or a frown upon
(20:56):
that if it works for this person, it works for
that person, it just doesn't work for me. So, you know,
gaining that extra level of empathy and compassion and understanding
for people, even patience for people. As actors, you're constantly
trying to understand even if someone is a villain and
an antagonist is something, you're trying to understand them and
(21:18):
you're trying to give them grace in ways. And I
think you know that that affects us as the actual actor,
like we're you know, you just kind of you develop
an open perspective that's different from how I was ten
twenty years ago. Like I can't even explain, it's so
(21:39):
many different layers to that of like you know, now
I'm a person that's like, Okay, this person, I may
not agree with what they did, but there's a why
and we need to give people grace with that. So
that was something I learned. And you know, when it
comes to like again, I take risks. I'm a very
ambitious person. I'm a hard work but Tiff is a
(22:01):
different level. Like she's going after it. Yeah, she goes hard,
she speaks up, she says all that, and it just
took me to that higher level like Hannah, you know,
be willing to take a few more risks. You never
know what's beyond that. Going back to what we were
just saying earlier. Uh So I learned that from her. Also,
(22:22):
just like you know, I'm in this space and this
is kind of I believe Tiff kind of contributed to this,
but really appreciating my feminism, like the power of a woman,
who a woman is and who she what a woman represents,
and even like seeing all the other characters on the show,
(22:44):
you got Lin Whitfield playing this this move on right,
it's like all of this you're taking in and it
makes you just appreciate yourself as a woman. I grew
up in a space like when I was younger, it
was always the talk of out the struggles of women,
especially Black women. It's like, oh, you know, you're not
gonna have this, You're not gonna have that, if you
(23:05):
get pregnant, this, if this is But they don't tell
you pregnancy is beautiful. You know, you're being a child.
They don't tell you that there's beauty and seeing a strong,
grounded Black woman. And then we're the most highly educated
people in the world, Like they don't tell you these things,
but they bombarded with all the negativity and all these
little things are on our show and you know, just
(23:27):
to just say, we kind of celebrated this this season
with the women showing how women stick together. It makes
you appreciate yourself as a woman, and it makes you
ground yourself and be proud, like like it sounds crazy,
but there were times in my life I'm like, dang,
we you know women, don't we getting a shorter end
the stick. No, everybody gets a shorter than the stick
somewhere down the line. But it's like we need to
(23:49):
stop focusing on the negative and appreciate ourselves to the positive.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
You know, we talked about lynd Widfield, and then there
have been so man any like legendary stars that have
been on The Shy. But with that we get a
lot of new faces as well over the course of
the show. What's sound like for you to kind of
have like those new faces around, but then also those
(24:15):
legends that have been on the show as well.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
It's a beautiful experience, I would have to say, And
I have to commend Lean on that again, because you know,
she brings in these big people and then she also
gives opportunity to people like me like this was my
biggest role. This is a lot of our biggest roles.
Like the kids, this is their biggest role, So you
(24:40):
know them and how they're telling who they're choosing the cast,
and how they're going about this and how they're meshing
these this group of people. I have to give it
to the higher ups everybody. How are the network production Lena,
the writers, Justin Hilly, and the show runner, all of those.
I have to give it to them because they're they're
mixing us will But it is a great experience because
(25:01):
we all bounce off of each other. We're all like
we you know, our generation. We're giving advice to the
younger generation. We have kids on our show, and then
the older people are giving advice to us, So it's
it's great for us to just really connect and learn
from each other.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Yeah, and it's interesting because it seems like that respect
is there because it seems like the that the characters
reflect where you guys actually are in life when you're
relating to them, and you don't always you don't always
see that. John, Also, what is it like? You know?
And this is always say that inclusion doesn't mean exclusion,
(25:38):
So let me just get that out the way. But
with that being said, what is it like being on
a set with a predominantly black cast or almost all
black cast, and then with with with also with black producers,
and being in a in a nice, rich black city.
What is that like?
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Well Man, it's so surreal. When I was growing up,
I watched a lot of black film. But my question,
my curiosity was why isn't why aren't we crossing over?
Why aren't we mainstream? And I remember kind of gravitating
to people like well We Goldberg, Queen Latifa, halle Berry
(26:20):
because they were more mainstream, they were bigger names, they
was in different type of productions and I remember being
very very young and saying, you know, black, we can
have black productions at this level, Like I fantasized it.
To be honest, I truly did. I'm like, you know,
we can tell stories, we can switch to this actor instead
(26:41):
of like I would watch movies and I would say, like,
this could be a black person instead, this could be
you know this, I would recast them in my head.
So to fast forward and be on this production and
see this, and let me tell you, this production has
evolved too. So I was on the original pilot in
(27:02):
twenty fifteen, which is with a completely different cast, and
you know, behind the scenes you got all these different
faces and it just wasn't as many black faces. You
had a lot of black faces in front of the
skin off and behind the screen, but it wasn't a lot.
And over the years you've seen a growth in that,
You've seen an industry kind of shift in our favor.
(27:25):
And it's something that you really can't even articulate, but
it's just like, I'm so happy and proud to be
a part of this industry in this time and to
be celebrated in this way, like we're telling our stories now.
Back in the day you will watch a film and
it'll be a black, yeah, black film, and then you
(27:47):
look at the writer and they white, right, and it's like,
you know, and not to say that white people can't
tell black stories or black people can't tell white stories,
because you can't, but there's a different level of understanding.
Like when you look at a Martin Scuts, he has
all these like Jewish stuff for you know, like all
this Italian stuff all in this film. He can tell
(28:08):
that I would never put that in a film, like
you know what I'm saying, Like I don't know all
these scrolls about all these girls. I mean, I would
do the research, but like he can identify with that
more and tell those stories better like us. You know
the traditional you know, what's the dancing photo. I can't
even remember the name, you know, the the black dancing
photo that every black household had. I cannot run.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
What you're talking about. Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Like we wouldn't put that in a scene, but they
probably wouldn't another race, another demographic wouldn't. So you know,
it's it's beautiful, it's it's amazing, it's groundbreaking that we
can tell these stories from our perspective. And then we're
creating like we're in the production process too. I will
(28:55):
say too. Throughout the years, we've seen more female black
like black female faces behind the scenes, black female directors.
Lena with him and Grad. She has a lot of
the directors from him and Grad. They go through I
think the director's the course or something with human and
then they'll bring them over to the shot and it's
just we all here celebrating blackness together. Like it it's crazy,
(29:19):
like the system and structure that they've created up the shot.
It's awesome, it really is. It's brilliant and it really
celebrates black people, all types of black people, all types
of black talent, even artists. We felt we have artists featured.
Even one season we had black designers like that was
the focus, all black designers for the wardrobe.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
So it's yeah, that's pretty ang. That sounds like an
incredible experience.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
It really is.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Okay, I'm gonna ask you a twofold question, So what
has been your favorite moment with Tiff in the show,
and then what would you still like to see her do?
Speaker 2 (30:02):
My favorite moment m probably has to be this past season,
just seeing her in a different space, you know, Tiff
Initially you always seen her as like the aggressor or
(30:22):
you know, this very outspoken person, but she's soft in
this season that you know, she still has those moments
where she's you know, speaking up and you know, being
a powerful person, but she's softened and we've seen her
in a more vulnerable state. And I think that's important
to see in anyone as well, especially when you you know,
(30:43):
want to understand them a little bit more so that
this season of vulnerability, her being pregnant, her grieving, her
being in a space where she has to really let go.
I think that probably has been my favorite part of her.
And then moving forward, I want to see Tiffany really
boss up like she's never I hate to say this,
(31:05):
but she's never had her own home like she if
you look at over the season, she's always say with
Emine and his mama, right in her own home. I
wanted to see her in her own world, like a
real world of hers. Oh yeah, I would like to
see that.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
What about as far as motherhood? Where do you want
to see tiff Man?
Speaker 2 (31:31):
So you know this past season, Tim dropped the ball
and you know what, let me say this, I don't
think and I could be wrong. I don't think that
was intentional to have her not with her child. You know,
we had a big well. People don't understand the behind
the scenes and when it comes to production, children can't
(31:52):
be on set often the eight hours, I think, and
then it changes for whatever the age range is. And
because the story, like Keisha's story, was her with the children,
it's like they had to push all the children there
to do it. It was just I think it was
(32:12):
like that was the issue. I don't think it was
meant for Tip to be a deadbeat mom. But this
season with her and motherhood was very interesting to watch
and then interesting to see how the fans reacted. But
I would love her to get some redemption there because
I don't think she's a bad mom. No, it's not thinking.
(32:33):
I know she's not a bad mom, but we just
have to find a way to, like, you know, like
I said, give her some redemption. I do. I'm curious
to what they're gonna do, cause again, with children on set,
it's like it's a lot. It's way more like babies,
especially they're only allowed to be on set for so long,
Like we had the newborns when we delivered. I think
(32:54):
they were we can have them for ten minutes at
a time. It's like a very short with the new
new ones. Yes, so I don't know how they're going
to do it, but I want to see her get
some redemption. I want to see her being more active
as a mother, but also, you know, as an entrepreneur,
as a leader, as a boss.
Speaker 1 (33:16):
We talked about directing. Would you want to write an
episode of The Shy?
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Ooh, probably not an episode of The Shy. I would
love to write, but not an episode of The Shy,
Like that's Lena's baby, and you know when something in
somebody's baby, you just kind of let it be their baby,
and so I would prefer to always just be on
(33:42):
the act inside when it comes to The Shy. But yeah,
in the future, probably write my own stuff.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
Yeah, what what can you What secrets can you tell
us that we haven't heard about yet? A scene yet
without giving too much away.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
Shy related? Yes, hmm, let me see. I feel like
everything is kind of out right now. Yeah, like with
that finale was crazy.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
But what I haven't seen yet?
Speaker 2 (34:16):
Oh yes, okay, well you got yeah. Yeah, it's a
lot in that finale and it kind of just says
a lot. I mean, to be honest, we don't know
where the stories are going. Like I don't even know
if they I'm guessing they're gonna do a time jump,
(34:38):
but we really don't even know if they're gonna do
a time jump. All I can say is we do
got a season eight and we started filming in January.
Those are kind of a little secrets.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Yeah, that's that's pretty good. That's a good that's a
good jump off point. Yeah. So what outside of outside
of the Shy project? What kind of projects do you
want to do next?
Speaker 2 (35:07):
I kind of want to do a little bit of everything.
I did an action film at the top of the year,
and it's so interesting because when I first stepped into
this industry, that was my goal. I wanted to do
an action film. I'm very athletic, so that was like
a thing. I'm like, oh, I want to do this,
and then I kind of just got rid of that,
Like I'm like, I'm getting older. You know what, the record,
(35:29):
You know, when you're filming action films, it's different. You
know already is speaking just with dialogue. You got to
shoot about five six times, You got to take multiple takes.
Imagine a auction film. It's way more takes, it's way
more complicated. But I thoughe with that, and I said,
(35:50):
you know, I had a maybe this is a reminder
that you can still do it. I believe, you know.
I think I have a very versatile look and I
think I can play anything, in my opinion, so I
kind of want to dive into every single genre. The
only my least favorite genre is probably horror, unless it's
just like a Jordan Peele horror. Jordan Peerle horror is brilliant,
(36:14):
like horror, cab It in the woods. Yeah, I don't
want to do that running and falling and nah.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
I don't do that. Hannah. What's what's coming up next
for you in your career and in life?
Speaker 2 (36:35):
Ooh, you know, I'll say this. I had the best
summer of my life this summer, and like I was
able to work. We had to show airing and we're
not filming. We didn't film this summer. We filmed the
last summer, but we didn't film this summer. So I
had that off, which means it allows me to do
other projects. So the me juggling that and juggling traveling,
(37:01):
I've been able to travel way matter this is the
most I've ever traveled in my life. So I just
I'm so grateful to have that opportunity to do that
and you know, celebrating the show. This is a huge
season for us. Yes, so I'm being very very present
and right now, but I'm also trying to like build
(37:21):
off this momentum right now. It's a lot of auditions
right now, Like July, it just picks up and it
goes into about October, so auditional audition, audition is a
lot of productions filming in Chicago. I'm hoping, you know,
something comes for that. But besides that, traveling, traveling, traveling again,
we'll start back to show h the Shy, So that'll
(37:43):
be exciting, another big season because now this is gonna
put us at the longest running black TV drama right
So that's exciting. And I'm sure, I'm sure the writer's
room got something up their sleeve that's gonna really elevate
this season. So looking forward to that. Yeah, Like I
can't even it's it's corny, but like I really enjoy
(38:07):
the simple things in life, like to be able to
travel and enjoy the summer this year, Like I've never
had a someone like this truly, and it's been an
absolute blessing that I'm grateful for.
Speaker 1 (38:18):
Where are some of the places that you've been this summer.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
Man, I've been, don't laugh at me. I've been to Philly,
I've been random places like I try to like do
quick trips all across. I do. Got a Tokyo trip
coming up that I'm really excited for. I've done Mexico
a couple of times this year, Atlanta, and New York.
(38:42):
I've been frequent in New York a lot. I just
kind of Denver, Seattle, Denver. I love Denver. It's it's
I love the mountains with the city, like the access
that it has. It will be perfect if they had
water there. But Phoenix. I've been kind of a little
(39:03):
bit of everywhere. But I definitely I got that Tokyo
trip coming up, so that's something I'm really looking forward to.
Speaker 1 (39:11):
What are you most excited about Tokyo?
Speaker 2 (39:16):
I don't know. I'm such a tourist. I'm a dork
about just like tourists and touring a city. So I
think just the experience, you know, you hear about everybody
and their experiences when it comes to food and just
the architecture, and just how the city is set up.
Even the cleanliness of the city. I'm actually excited to
(39:38):
see that. Like they say it's so clean that you
have to like take your shoes off to go everywhere,
and that sounds crazy to us in America. But I
wonder how this structure, this livelihood is like working for
them even Like I love visiting places that just have
different terrains, different types of trees. I forgot it's a
(40:00):
out there, it's a forest, and I really want to
It's on my list of places to go Osaka Kyoto,
like just kind of exploring and jumping around different learning
their culture a little bit more.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
Yeah, what's it been like documenting all of this for
you for your socials, because that's that's been pretty interesting.
What's that been like for you?
Speaker 2 (40:21):
Oh my god? I love it. I love taking photos
of course, like I have a whole cannon that I
take the photos of love. It's exciting. I need to
do better with social media or just putting that content out, yes,
but it's amazing, Like amazing. Anytime I'm able to experience
(40:43):
another city and other culture, another anything that is not
like mine, I'm excited.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
Yeah. Tracy Ellis Ross she has a travel show. Now,
would you ever want like kind of like put some
clips together and say, you know, let's see what we
got here. Would you ever want to do anything?
Speaker 2 (41:00):
Would? I would? And I know she does solo traveling.
See I do a lot of solo traveling too, and
I thought that was interesting. I'm like, Okay, well I'm
not the only woman out here doing solo traveling, so
I think that's amazing as well and very inspiring for
other young women.
Speaker 1 (41:14):
Yeah. Absolutely, Hannah. Where can everybody find you on social media?
Speaker 2 (41:19):
My sister media is at Hannah Hall h A N
N A h A h A l L. My name
is felt kind of weird but.
Speaker 1 (41:29):
Unique.
Speaker 2 (41:30):
Unique, Yes, it is unique. My mother We'll commend ever
with that. But yeah, just my first and last name
at Hannah Hall. I have an Instagram. I don't have
any other social media, but yes, Instagram.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
Yes, Hannah Hall. This has been an absolute pleasure. It's
been great talking to you today, and just much success
to you in your career and then much success to
the upcoming season of The Shy. I hope you guys
have great suites. Yes, thank you. Be sure to follow me.
Keith Underwood, mister Keith l Underwood on ig You can
also follow me on FB at Keith l Underwood. And
(42:06):
you know you gotta follow Black in the green Room
at Black in the green Room across all platforms. Until
next time, this has been Black in the green Room
You are black in the green room with me, your host,
Keith Underwood, and this is your spot for real talk
about entertainment with the entertainers, creatives and show viz professionals.
So today's guest is the incredibly talented Hannah Hall, who
you know as Tiffany from Showtimes The Shy. She's real
(00:21):
raw and making ways both on screen and behind the scenes.
Whether it's her work as an actress, or her love
for comic books, or her artistic eye off camera, she
brings attention to everything that she does. Let's get into it. Hannah,
Welcome to the room.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Thank you, Thank you so much. That is an awesome introductory.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
No problem at all. How you doing.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I feel good. I feel good. I'm in Chicago. It's
a good day. It's an amazing summer, so I feel good.
How about you?
Speaker 1 (00:52):
You know I'm doing good too. It's LA and it's
a nice day in LA. It's a little warm for us,
but nothing like the humidity that's in Chicago.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Yeah yeah, but you know, we appreciate it because our
weather isn't as consistent as it is out there in La.
So we we take advantage of our warm days out here. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Absolutely, absolutely, you're originally from.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Chicago, I am born and raised.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Did that Did that have any parts in you getting
the part of Tiffany?
Speaker 2 (01:23):
I think, you know, when it comes to budget and production,
saving money to hire a local is always you know,
working their advantage. But I will say this, it was
a It was a timing thing because it just wasn't
a lot of productions at the time. So it was
good that I was in Chicago and wasn't outsourcing myself
because you know that's typical to go to New York,
(01:43):
LA or Atlanta. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Yeah, yeah, So I was really really surprised to find
out that you are a big comic book fan.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Oh my god, this I'm laughing because yes, that is
something about me. I love comics.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Yeah, well it's crazy. I'm a huge comic book fan
as well, like even created one. But it's just so, oh,
thank you, thank you very much. So what if you
could be any superhero in film, and whether it's Marvel
or DC or something indie, what would your character be like?
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Oh, you know, everybody always go for the superheroes, but
you know what, I've been leaning into the villains. Okay,
we're telling people, you know what, I would love to
play a riddler. I feel like, you know that that's
obviously a male role, but who get more riddles than women?
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Well, hello, should give it.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
To a woman. And you know, this day in age,
when we're telling stories, especially in Hollywood, things are shifting.
Oh you know, they're allowing women to play male roles
and male to play women roles. So it's an opportunity.
But but yeah, I always I'm very fascinated with the villains.
I think we all kind of grew up loving like
the go tos, like the storms and stuff. I will
(03:04):
say it was my my friend, I can't remember the
name of the character was just terrible, but my good
friend was like, you know what will be a good one?
The Lady Green Lantern.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Oh yeah, you know what that is?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
One in a while though.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
So yeah, no, that would be interesting. So if you
if you had your choice of superpowers, whether it was
as a superhero in your personal life, what would that
superpower be?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Mm hm, carve me telepathy?
Speaker 1 (03:33):
How come?
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Because I feel like that's if you can control somebody mind,
you you have all the control right anything?
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Right? Look a little scary, but I feel you on
that though.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
It is very scary. But look imagine how much we
can eat, we could do even with the politics and
stuff we could change. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Yeah, now you do have a point there, So maybe
till that that he could be really good on your
next trip to DC. Good, good, good. So you've mentioned
that in the past that writing is also one of
your hot hobbies. What kind of writing do you enjoy
the most and does it feed your work as an
(04:20):
actor too.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
It absolutely feeds my work as an actor. And you know,
we we break down characters, and when you write in
you're breaking down this story. But I want to say
that what I enjoy I'm such a weirdo. I'm not,
and I mean that in every good way. Like I'm
a proud weirdo. But I love sci fi and I've
(04:44):
written things sci fi related, but anything just out of
the box, out of the ordinary, things that you don't expect,
especially in the world where it's like there's a lot
of repeat story repeats, like Okay, you know you're reading
and something you like, I can see what this is going,
you know, But something that's out of the box, something
that you didn't think about, like and I love the world,
(05:05):
like the sci fi world you can really explore and
there's no boundaries to that.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Absolutely absolutely, So let's see here. So you I've also
heard I'm tapping into all your little creative outlets here
that you also have a great eye for photography and
for style, especially on the ground. So do you see
yourself stepping behind the camera one day?
Speaker 2 (05:33):
You know, that's such an interesting question. A lot of
people ask me that because I'm souper into photography and cinematography.
I stand by the cinematographer when we're shooting, and I
love it. I love the art of it. But I
don't know if I will be a director, if it
ever now in my life. No, maybe ten twenty years
from now. I may find an interest in that. Like
(05:55):
I love writing, I love just setting up shots and
stuff stories. I love everything else, But I'm like a director.
You have to be so detail oriented and so intentional.
Directors fill in the gap, but what we can't do.
They're driving the ship, and it's just such a huge
responsibility that you have to be extremely passionate about. And
(06:18):
because my passion is more so towards acting and writing
and other stuff, I just wouldn't pursue directing now because
I wouldn't give it all, Right, but I do enjoy it.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Yeah. Nice, nice, nice Hannah. So, if you had to
step outside of yourself right and direct yourself, what are
some of the major notes you would give yourself.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Oh, man, I would tell myself be more confident. I
know that's a thing, but it's real. I would tell
myself be more confident, be more fearless, take more risks.
(07:03):
You know, this industry is so fickle, it's so unpredictable.
But true enough, Like when you think about a risk,
fear comes with that, but it's so much beyond that risk. Like,
each time you take a risk, it's something beyond it.
Even if it's a failure, there's lessons and failure, there's
great lessons in the best lessons. And sometimes I like,
(07:27):
I take risks, but I could be overly conscious. I
could be you know, just kind of overthinking it and
not making that step forward. And you know, I think
telling myself to just really push on that. Especially in
this industry, you have to have that to really exceed.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Yeah, why do you think that's important for all actors
to be to come outside of their comfort zones to
take those.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Risks because it's such a competitive industry. Like the next
person is doing it and who's not doing it? It
is not getting anywhere. And it's unfortunate to say because
it's so many talented people, but sometimes that'll be the
thing that hinders you and prevents you from moving forward,
like this is this is a really competitive industry. M hm.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Absolutely. When it came to when it comes to the
shyt what was one of those moments when you were like,
I don't know, but you went ahead and you did
it anyway.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
I will say my first audition for the shot, it
was like a I don't know. I auditioned for Kesha
and I remember the audition, Oh god, this is kind
of this is a lot. The audition started with her
and she was finishing up a moment. It was something
(08:49):
I was not prepared to easy, and I had you
pep talk myself and say do it, just do it.
And essentially, I mean I didn't book ended up switching
me to Tiff, but that's what booked this role for me,
telling myself just do it, don't think about nothing else,
just going out out dish world. And I did embarrass myself.
(09:10):
I remember they were like the casting director was like, uh,
you know not this, don't do it. This way, I
was like, oh my god. But I threw all of
that to the side and it was just like do it.
So I experienced that in the beginning, and then honestly,
this past season it was a lot because I was like,
she's pregnant, she's grieving, and she's not just grieving anybody,
(09:35):
She's grieving her lover. It was a lie for me,
and it was intimidating because I want to tell these
stories and I want to be as true as possible,
and I'm like, I've never experienced it, so I'm gonna
have to dabble into every bit of grief that I've
ever experienced, because the grief of a lover is different.
(09:55):
But yeah, so this season was really tough and it
was a lot of just do it, Just do it
be in the moment. And I'm so grateful for my
co stars because they really really help us, like we
help each other. We're it's like a basketball game. They're
laying it up, we're dunking.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
It, you know, right, And it seems it's so funny
because it seems that way. It seems like there's a
very family environment, especially when I've seen you guys do
interviews because I can always clock the fakeness. But when
I've seen you guys do interviews together, it seems very real.
So it's just weird. So how do you how do
you transition from like Okay, we cool, we buddy buddy
(10:31):
to shoot somebody in the head. How does that transition happen?
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Oh my god, It's one of the things you kind
of just gott to lock in. M you gotta lock
in and say like, yeah, this is this is the story.
It's it's funny. We'll be sitting on sitting we'll be
laughing and chatting, but then we're yelling at each other,
or we gotta scene like me and Jill Marie Jones.
I don't know if you remember that scene. She kind
(10:57):
of approaches me and tells me, why would you tell
do to this something? Me and Jill are like this.
It was like we had to, you know, put aside
the laugh very I remember Jail even went in the
back and like she disappeared, and I was like, where
did Jill go? And she disappeared. But then when she
(11:20):
came in that scene and he said, actually she was
on me, and I was like, okay, I see what
she did. She like go to the side and you know,
get it together and then come and deliver. Basically, yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Wow. You mentioned earlier that you auditioned for Keisha and
then got Tiff. Were you a little disappointed? But what
did you come to love about Tiff?
Speaker 2 (11:46):
I actually was not disappointed. I remember at the time,
and I'm just I'm giving all I'm being very very candid. Yes,
it was for Keisha. It said nudity, so I immediately
told my team, I'm not comfortable with this, but I
would love to be in front of the casting director.
So ideally them switching me over the Tiff was perfect
for me because I just wasn't prepared for that. And
(12:08):
could I commend Burgundy Baker because she's amazing, like you know,
she she went in there, she killed it, and anybody
who you know do take on those type of roles,
like I commend you. You guys are awesome. But I
just wasn't in that space. Going back to confidence, but yeah,
like I wasn't disappointed, And with Tiff, I just love
(12:31):
how she's this progressive black woman. She's doing things that
you would not expect this young, attractive girl from the
South side of Chicago to do. But I can't even
believe that they've written her this much like it was
not supposed.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
To be like this, right, I kind of I kind
of picked up on that, and that's and it's interesting
that you say that what what what do you think
made and be real, be honest and you know, a
little egotistical to a take said, but what do you
think made the writers and the producer say like, Okay,
let's let's give her a little bit more meat, let's
(13:07):
expand this character.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
To be honest with you, I really don't know, but
I'm gonna think I'm gonna give you what I think.
I do think that first scene with Tiff was a
very explosive scene. She comes in this this shoe store,
she's smacking em it, she's calling this commotion, and it
was a very it was very Chicago. I'm very Chicago.
(13:31):
Anybody who knows a Chicago person, I'm that they just really,
you know, leaned in today like she's very Chicago. So
we have that authenticity on the show because a lot
of our actors they're not chicagoing. So just having that
on the show, you know, probably benefited benefited them. But
also it was an explosive scene. I think it was
(13:53):
a good scene, A good a great like starting scene
for a character.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Right right, which which act or who's not from Chicago
serves the most Chicago when they're doing.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
They she does, I would definitely.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Give it to her, right she could, she could be
an adopted sister of.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
It, like definitely, like you would not think. And I
think she's from North Carolina and Chicago was kinda we
look country too, So I guess that's probably why you
know Jacob he's from Milwaukee. He Jacob doesn't really give
Chicago Chicago, but he does a great job like just
showing a Chicago person. But yeah, I would definitely say
(14:36):
probably birds.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Yeah, you spend a lot of time with your see
your seeing partner in the last what two two seasons,
three seasons with Lynn Whitfield. What is that? Like?
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Oh my god, it's so amazing. First off, we've all
watched Lynn, Like Lynn is iconic in an industry, so
it was an honor and a blessing. She's funny as heck,
which is like always my cup of tea because I'm
a class clown myself, so that was always an enjoyable experience.
(15:10):
But also, you know, to work under someone like that,
especially being a woman. It was like I was a
student a lot, and I enjoyed being a student. I
enjoy being able to soak up as much as I can,
and I didn't. It's interesting. We never like approached her like, hey,
can you give us advice on this? But she'll drop
(15:30):
those gems and you just gotta know when to pick
them up. So that was a beautiful experience. And then
she helped me really them bring out some of the
emotion and you know, understand the moments that were happening.
So I really appreciate just the opportunity to work with her.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Yeah, And it's interesting because even though with her, I mean,
even though the character is really like hard, but with you,
there's this real maternal energy, but you just never know
what she's gonna switch it up. Yeah, yeah, what are
your thoughts about that?
Speaker 2 (16:07):
You know, that's the writing. We gotta give it to
lean away from now. The writing. That unpredictability is something
that I enjoy, like truly, it's just something we kind
of got to grow with the punches on and appreciate
when it comes to writing and story to telling, because
I think those are the best stories. Like I said,
you don't want to Nobody wants to watch a movie
(16:28):
where you can, you know, predict the ending. You don't
want to watch something where you're like, wait a minute,
let me keep myn let me let me stay in tune,
let me make sure I'm paying attention so I can
see why this, like what's gonna happen next? And why?
Speaker 1 (16:41):
You know?
Speaker 2 (16:42):
So I think I have to commend them on that.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Yeah. One of the questions that I that I like
to ask a lot of actors when you have a
very complex role, right, how do you remove yourself from
any very emotional scene and come back to Hannah.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Oh that's such a great question. And you know, I
want to say this to Detaching yourself is not only
vital for emotional scenes but just in general. Like fourth
season of Is Shy, we explored open marriage and that
was something I was like, if Hannah was like this,
(17:24):
I didn't like. I just Hannah wouldn't make those decisions.
But tiff Wood or whoever else said this may work
for would And I remember struggling with that and I'm like, Hannah,
you just gotta really really tell you, like, you gotta
sit yourself now. And it sounds crazy, but you have
to set yourself down and say like, hey, this is
(17:46):
the character, and this is Hannah. You wouldn't do these things,
but your character might. And I think it's our job
to just understand and respect that we have to serve
the story. And that was my goal. But I will
say this, that requires so much stability in every area
of your life. You have to be mentally, spiritually, emotionally
(18:07):
healthy and stable and balance to really be able to
successfully detach yourself. For me, it was just a reminder
like telling myself like, Hannah, this is not you, this
is not you, and making sure I create a life
outside of work, like I have hobbies, I have state,
like I love my home, I love coming home and stuff.
Everything doesn't just revolve around acting. It's other things that
(18:31):
I do. So I think creating that life outside of work,
understanding who you are, grounding yourself and that and also
like you know, you don't have to speed into your character,
like when it comes to social media, like ground you,
you can be you on social media too, and that's okay.
And I think the more you're you aching yourself and
your identity is easier for you to detach.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Yes, nice, and you know, we have frontiers everybody has frontiers.
Hannah had the opportunity to hang out with Tiffany, would
she and where would she be on that totem poll
of friends?
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Mmm? I would. I would definitely hang out with Tiffany.
I don't think she would be a person I hang
out with all the time, like the best thing. No,
but you know, maybe a homegirl. We kick it every
now and then we go out to eat. We we
know each other, you know, we probably know each other's families,
but nothing too too close, you know, but yeah, yes, what? Uh?
Speaker 1 (19:38):
So you so you said nothing? Why? Why is that.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Tiffany can be a bit unhinged. And while I respect
her decisions and her her ambition as a young woman,
our values, all of our values don't align. And the
truth is, sometimes when your values on the line with people,
it's hard to really mess you have to like place
(20:03):
them like, Okay, I can I can be connected with
them in this way and that way, but maybe not
this way. You know. I wouldn't go to Tiffany for relationship, yes,
you know.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
And it's so funny because it's always folks like that
that want to cling to you the most that you're
trying to kind of keep a little bit of distance
between you and them. That's that's crazy. So what what
can you tell us about, Well, what you've discovered about
yourself from playing Tiffany.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Ooh, that's a really good question. But I've discovered so much,
Like I've grown so much, even like having respect and
grace for other people, Like I was saying with the
open marriage, you know, that's not something I would do,
but I had to really understand that it's not my
place to place judgment on somebody or a frown upon
(20:56):
that if it works for this person, it works for
that person, it just doesn't work for me. So, you know,
gaining that extra level of empathy and compassion and understanding
for people, even patience for people. As actors, you're constantly
trying to understand even if someone is a villain and
an antagonist is something, you're trying to understand them and
(21:18):
you're trying to give them grace in ways. And I
think you know that that affects us as the actual actor,
like we're you know, you just kind of you develop
an open perspective that's different from how I was ten
twenty years ago. Like I can't even explain, it's so
(21:39):
many different layers to that of like you know, now
I'm a person that's like, Okay, this person, I may
not agree with what they did, but there's a why
and we need to give people grace with that. So
that was something I learned. And you know, when it
comes to like again, I take risks. I'm a very
ambitious person. I'm a hard work but Tiff is a
(22:01):
different level. Like she's going after it. Yeah, she goes hard,
she speaks up, she says all that, and it just
took me to that higher level like Hannah, you know,
be willing to take a few more risks. You never
know what's beyond that. Going back to what we were
just saying earlier. Uh So I learned that from her. Also,
(22:22):
just like you know, I'm in this space and this
is kind of I believe Tiff kind of contributed to this,
but really appreciating my feminism, like the power of a woman,
who a woman is and who she what a woman represents,
and even like seeing all the other characters on the show,
(22:44):
you got Lin Whitfield playing this this move on right,
it's like all of this you're taking in and it
makes you just appreciate yourself as a woman. I grew
up in a space like when I was younger, it
was always the talk of out the struggles of women,
especially Black women. It's like, oh, you know, you're not
gonna have this, You're not gonna have that, if you
(23:05):
get pregnant, this, if this is But they don't tell
you pregnancy is beautiful. You know, you're being a child.
They don't tell you that there's beauty and seeing a strong,
grounded Black woman. And then we're the most highly educated
people in the world, Like they don't tell you these things,
but they bombarded with all the negativity and all these
little things are on our show and you know, just
(23:27):
to just say, we kind of celebrated this this season
with the women showing how women stick together. It makes
you appreciate yourself as a woman, and it makes you
ground yourself and be proud, like like it sounds crazy,
but there were times in my life I'm like, dang,
we you know women, don't we getting a shorter end
the stick. No, everybody gets a shorter than the stick
somewhere down the line. But it's like we need to
(23:49):
stop focusing on the negative and appreciate ourselves to the positive.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
You know, we talked about lynd Widfield, and then there
have been so man any like legendary stars that have
been on The Shy. But with that we get a
lot of new faces as well over the course of
the show. What's sound like for you to kind of
have like those new faces around, but then also those
(24:15):
legends that have been on the show as well.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
It's a beautiful experience, I would have to say, And
I have to commend Lean on that again, because you know,
she brings in these big people and then she also
gives opportunity to people like me like this was my
biggest role. This is a lot of our biggest roles.
Like the kids, this is their biggest role, So you
(24:40):
know them and how they're telling who they're choosing the cast,
and how they're going about this and how they're meshing
these this group of people. I have to give it
to the higher ups everybody. How are the network production Lena,
the writers, Justin Hilly, and the show runner, all of those.
I have to give it to them because they're they're
mixing us will But it is a great experience because
(25:01):
we all bounce off of each other. We're all like
we you know, our generation. We're giving advice to the
younger generation. We have kids on our show, and then
the older people are giving advice to us, So it's
it's great for us to just really connect and learn
from each other.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Yeah, and it's interesting because it seems like that respect
is there because it seems like the that the characters
reflect where you guys actually are in life when you're
relating to them, and you don't always you don't always
see that. John, Also, what is it like? You know?
And this is always say that inclusion doesn't mean exclusion,
(25:38):
So let me just get that out the way. But
with that being said, what is it like being on
a set with a predominantly black cast or almost all
black cast, and then with with with also with black producers,
and being in a in a nice, rich black city.
What is that like?
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Well Man, it's so surreal. When I was growing up,
I watched a lot of black film. But my question,
my curiosity was why isn't why aren't we crossing over?
Why aren't we mainstream? And I remember kind of gravitating
to people like well We Goldberg, Queen Latifa, halle Berry
(26:20):
because they were more mainstream, they were bigger names, they
was in different type of productions and I remember being
very very young and saying, you know, black, we can
have black productions at this level, Like I fantasized it.
To be honest, I truly did. I'm like, you know,
we can tell stories, we can switch to this actor instead
(26:41):
of like I would watch movies and I would say, like,
this could be a black person instead, this could be
you know this, I would recast them in my head.
So to fast forward and be on this production and
see this, and let me tell you, this production has
evolved too. So I was on the original pilot in
(27:02):
twenty fifteen, which is with a completely different cast, and
you know, behind the scenes you got all these different
faces and it just wasn't as many black faces. You
had a lot of black faces in front of the
skin off and behind the screen, but it wasn't a lot.
And over the years you've seen a growth in that,
You've seen an industry kind of shift in our favor.
(27:25):
And it's something that you really can't even articulate, but
it's just like, I'm so happy and proud to be
a part of this industry in this time and to
be celebrated in this way, like we're telling our stories now.
Back in the day you will watch a film and
it'll be a black, yeah, black film, and then you
(27:47):
look at the writer and they white, right, and it's like,
you know, and not to say that white people can't
tell black stories or black people can't tell white stories,
because you can't, but there's a different level of understanding.
Like when you look at a Martin Scuts, he has
all these like Jewish stuff for you know, like all
this Italian stuff all in this film. He can tell
(28:08):
that I would never put that in a film, like
you know what I'm saying, Like I don't know all
these scrolls about all these girls. I mean, I would
do the research, but like he can identify with that
more and tell those stories better like us. You know
the traditional you know, what's the dancing photo. I can't
even remember the name, you know, the the black dancing
photo that every black household had. I cannot run.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
What you're talking about. Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Like we wouldn't put that in a scene, but they
probably wouldn't another race, another demographic wouldn't. So you know,
it's it's beautiful, it's it's amazing, it's groundbreaking that we
can tell these stories from our perspective. And then we're
creating like we're in the production process too. I will
(28:55):
say too. Throughout the years, we've seen more female black
like black female faces behind the scenes, black female directors.
Lena with him and Grad. She has a lot of
the directors from him and Grad. They go through I
think the director's the course or something with human and
then they'll bring them over to the shot and it's
just we all here celebrating blackness together. Like it it's crazy,
(29:19):
like the system and structure that they've created up the shot.
It's awesome, it really is. It's brilliant and it really
celebrates black people, all types of black people, all types
of black talent, even artists. We felt we have artists featured.
Even one season we had black designers like that was
the focus, all black designers for the wardrobe.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
So it's yeah, that's pretty ang. That sounds like an
incredible experience.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
It really is.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Okay, I'm gonna ask you a twofold question, So what
has been your favorite moment with Tiff in the show,
and then what would you still like to see her do?
Speaker 2 (30:02):
My favorite moment m probably has to be this past season,
just seeing her in a different space, you know, Tiff
Initially you always seen her as like the aggressor or
(30:22):
you know, this very outspoken person, but she's soft in
this season that you know, she still has those moments
where she's you know, speaking up and you know, being
a powerful person, but she's softened and we've seen her
in a more vulnerable state. And I think that's important
to see in anyone as well, especially when you you know,
(30:43):
want to understand them a little bit more so that
this season of vulnerability, her being pregnant, her grieving, her
being in a space where she has to really let go.
I think that probably has been my favorite part of her.
And then moving forward, I want to see Tiffany really
boss up like she's never I hate to say this,
(31:05):
but she's never had her own home like she if
you look at over the season, she's always say with
Emine and his mama, right in her own home. I
wanted to see her in her own world, like a
real world of hers. Oh yeah, I would like to
see that.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
What about as far as motherhood? Where do you want
to see tiff Man?
Speaker 2 (31:31):
So you know this past season, Tim dropped the ball
and you know what, let me say this, I don't
think and I could be wrong. I don't think that
was intentional to have her not with her child. You know,
we had a big well. People don't understand the behind
the scenes and when it comes to production, children can't
(31:52):
be on set often the eight hours, I think, and
then it changes for whatever the age range is. And
because the story, like Keisha's story, was her with the children,
it's like they had to push all the children there
to do it. It was just I think it was
(32:12):
like that was the issue. I don't think it was
meant for Tip to be a deadbeat mom. But this
season with her and motherhood was very interesting to watch
and then interesting to see how the fans reacted. But
I would love her to get some redemption there because
I don't think she's a bad mom. No, it's not thinking.
(32:33):
I know she's not a bad mom, but we just
have to find a way to, like, you know, like
I said, give her some redemption. I do. I'm curious
to what they're gonna do, cause again, with children on set,
it's like it's a lot. It's way more like babies,
especially they're only allowed to be on set for so long,
Like we had the newborns when we delivered. I think
(32:54):
they were we can have them for ten minutes at
a time. It's like a very short with the new
new ones. Yes, so I don't know how they're going
to do it, but I want to see her get
some redemption. I want to see her being more active
as a mother, but also, you know, as an entrepreneur,
as a leader, as a boss.
Speaker 1 (33:16):
We talked about directing. Would you want to write an
episode of The Shy?
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Ooh, probably not an episode of The Shy. I would
love to write, but not an episode of The Shy,
Like that's Lena's baby, and you know when something in
somebody's baby, you just kind of let it be their baby,
and so I would prefer to always just be on
(33:42):
the act inside when it comes to The Shy. But yeah,
in the future, probably write my own stuff.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
Yeah, what what can you What secrets can you tell
us that we haven't heard about yet? A scene yet
without giving too much away.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
Shy related? Yes, hmm, let me see. I feel like
everything is kind of out right now. Yeah, like with
that finale was crazy.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
But what I haven't seen yet?
Speaker 2 (34:16):
Oh yes, okay, well you got yeah. Yeah, it's a
lot in that finale and it kind of just says
a lot. I mean, to be honest, we don't know
where the stories are going. Like I don't even know
if they I'm guessing they're gonna do a time jump,
(34:38):
but we really don't even know if they're gonna do
a time jump. All I can say is we do
got a season eight and we started filming in January.
Those are kind of a little secrets.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Yeah, that's that's pretty good. That's a good that's a
good jump off point. Yeah. So what outside of outside
of the Shy project? What kind of projects do you
want to do next?
Speaker 2 (35:07):
I kind of want to do a little bit of everything.
I did an action film at the top of the year,
and it's so interesting because when I first stepped into
this industry, that was my goal. I wanted to do
an action film. I'm very athletic, so that was like
a thing. I'm like, oh, I want to do this,
and then I kind of just got rid of that,
Like I'm like, I'm getting older. You know what, the record,
(35:29):
You know, when you're filming action films, it's different. You
know already is speaking just with dialogue. You got to
shoot about five six times, You got to take multiple takes.
Imagine a auction film. It's way more takes, it's way
more complicated. But I thoughe with that, and I said,
(35:50):
you know, I had a maybe this is a reminder
that you can still do it. I believe, you know.
I think I have a very versatile look and I
think I can play anything, in my opinion, so I
kind of want to dive into every single genre. The
only my least favorite genre is probably horror, unless it's
just like a Jordan Peele horror. Jordan Peerle horror is brilliant,
(36:14):
like horror, cab It in the woods. Yeah, I don't
want to do that running and falling and nah.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
I don't do that. Hannah. What's what's coming up next
for you in your career and in life?
Speaker 2 (36:35):
Ooh, you know, I'll say this. I had the best
summer of my life this summer, and like I was
able to work. We had to show airing and we're
not filming. We didn't film this summer. We filmed the
last summer, but we didn't film this summer. So I
had that off, which means it allows me to do
other projects. So the me juggling that and juggling traveling,
(37:01):
I've been able to travel way matter this is the
most I've ever traveled in my life. So I just
I'm so grateful to have that opportunity to do that
and you know, celebrating the show. This is a huge
season for us. Yes, so I'm being very very present
and right now, but I'm also trying to like build
(37:21):
off this momentum right now. It's a lot of auditions
right now, Like July, it just picks up and it
goes into about October, so auditional audition, audition is a
lot of productions filming in Chicago. I'm hoping, you know,
something comes for that. But besides that, traveling, traveling, traveling again,
we'll start back to show h the Shy, So that'll
(37:43):
be exciting, another big season because now this is gonna
put us at the longest running black TV drama right
So that's exciting. And I'm sure, I'm sure the writer's
room got something up their sleeve that's gonna really elevate
this season. So looking forward to that. Yeah, Like I
can't even it's it's corny, but like I really enjoy
(38:07):
the simple things in life, like to be able to
travel and enjoy the summer this year, Like I've never
had a someone like this truly, and it's been an
absolute blessing that I'm grateful for.
Speaker 1 (38:18):
Where are some of the places that you've been this summer.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
Man, I've been, don't laugh at me. I've been to Philly,
I've been random places like I try to like do
quick trips all across. I do. Got a Tokyo trip
coming up that I'm really excited for. I've done Mexico
a couple of times this year, Atlanta, and New York.
(38:42):
I've been frequent in New York a lot. I just
kind of Denver, Seattle, Denver. I love Denver. It's it's
I love the mountains with the city, like the access
that it has. It will be perfect if they had
water there. But Phoenix. I've been kind of a little
(39:03):
bit of everywhere. But I definitely I got that Tokyo
trip coming up, so that's something I'm really looking forward to.
Speaker 1 (39:11):
What are you most excited about Tokyo?
Speaker 2 (39:16):
I don't know. I'm such a tourist. I'm a dork
about just like tourists and touring a city. So I
think just the experience, you know, you hear about everybody
and their experiences when it comes to food and just
the architecture, and just how the city is set up.
Even the cleanliness of the city. I'm actually excited to
(39:38):
see that. Like they say it's so clean that you
have to like take your shoes off to go everywhere,
and that sounds crazy to us in America. But I
wonder how this structure, this livelihood is like working for
them even Like I love visiting places that just have
different terrains, different types of trees. I forgot it's a
(40:00):
out there, it's a forest, and I really want to
It's on my list of places to go Osaka Kyoto,
like just kind of exploring and jumping around different learning
their culture a little bit more.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
Yeah, what's it been like documenting all of this for
you for your socials, because that's that's been pretty interesting.
What's that been like for you?
Speaker 2 (40:21):
Oh my god? I love it. I love taking photos
of course, like I have a whole cannon that I
take the photos of love. It's exciting. I need to
do better with social media or just putting that content out, yes,
but it's amazing, Like amazing. Anytime I'm able to experience
(40:43):
another city and other culture, another anything that is not
like mine, I'm excited.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
Yeah. Tracy Ellis Ross she has a travel show. Now,
would you ever want like kind of like put some
clips together and say, you know, let's see what we
got here. Would you ever want to do anything?
Speaker 2 (41:00):
Would? I would? And I know she does solo traveling.
See I do a lot of solo traveling too, and
I thought that was interesting. I'm like, Okay, well I'm
not the only woman out here doing solo traveling, so
I think that's amazing as well and very inspiring for
other young women.
Speaker 1 (41:14):
Yeah. Absolutely, Hannah. Where can everybody find you on social media?
Speaker 2 (41:19):
My sister media is at Hannah Hall h A N
N A h A h A l L. My name
is felt kind of weird but.
Speaker 1 (41:29):
Unique.
Speaker 2 (41:30):
Unique, Yes, it is unique. My mother We'll commend ever
with that. But yeah, just my first and last name
at Hannah Hall. I have an Instagram. I don't have
any other social media, but yes, Instagram.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
Yes, Hannah Hall. This has been an absolute pleasure. It's
been great talking to you today, and just much success
to you in your career and then much success to
the upcoming season of The Shy. I hope you guys
have great suites. Yes, thank you. Be sure to follow me.
Keith Underwood, mister Keith l Underwood on ig You can
also follow me on FB at Keith l Underwood. And
(42:06):
you know you gotta follow Black in the green Room
at Black in the green Room across all platforms. Until
next time, this has been Black in the green Room
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