Cornell Young, the actor describes his rising stardom, from living in his car to landing major role in Netflix's Different World, Hollywood miscues, staying grounded, dating older women, family values while navigating fame in public eye.

“I just watch people and I pray everyday to God for discernment, for me to be able to just see clearly and for people to expose themselves because it’s the law of life.” Cornell Young What happens when your life changes overnight, and the world suddenly knows your name? On this episode of The Pivot Podcast, Cornell Young sits down to share his journey from rising talent to Hollywood star, opening up about the opportunities, pressures, and unexpected challenges that come with overnight stardom. Cornell gets real with Ryan, Channing and Fred about navigating Hollywood as a young, good-looking star, the attention that comes with success, and the struggles people don't always see behind the spotlight. He reflects on the importance of family, staying grounded, and holding on to the person he was before fame entered the picture. In an industry where success can change everything, Cornell shares how he continues to protect his identity, stay true to his roots, and keep the right people close. The Hollywood heartthrob shares the story behind dating older women and the self goals he strives for everyday. The conversation also explores the excitement surrounding a new chapter with the A Different World remake, what it means to be part of a legacy that has impacted generations, and the responsibility of helping bring a beloved story back to life for a new audience. From the highs of Hollywood to the personal battles behind the scenes, Cornell Young opens up about ambition, identity, family, and the reality of growing into success while the whole world is watching. This is a conversation about more than fame. It's about staying real, knowing who you are, and making sure success never costs you yourself. Tap in to another powerful conversation and check it out on Netflix now! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

• 0:01Speaker 00

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• 0:30Speaker 01

  Cornell Young is a different worlds breakout star, but don't let the last name fool you. Dude's an old soul and I'm not just talking about when it comes to you ladies, although we do get into that. Hey, Siobhan. The St. Louis born actor didn't grow up dreaming of being in front of the camera. His visions were different. He saw himself playing football on the biggest stages, following in his pops footsteps. But sometimes the dream that you're born with isn't the dream you're meant to live. At just 26 years old, C. Young is wise beyond his years, but he has a perspective that allows him to handle whatever life throws his way. He moved to Los Angeles on the strength of a promise, one that was eventually broken. And on the cold nights, sleeping in his car, instead of questioning his circumstances,

• 1:14Speaker 01

  he chose to live in gratitude. He didn't have a home, but he had hope and he had faith. And he was living in the blessings that God had yet to deliver, but he knew what was coming. We go all the way back to St. Louis and talk to a football player that did it all, including talk is talk. We get into the human six, the connection everyone has on set and what it meant to be welcomed into a different world by the original cast. What I loved the most about this conversation was how real it got. We talked pretty privileged, the importance of choosing the right people to surround yourself with and the discernment it takes to navigate Hollywood. We got into his close knit family and the people who keep him grounded and what the future looks like for a young man who's already experienced more than most people his age.

• 1:59Speaker 01

  Let me be clear about something. C. Young is a real one and I mean that through and through. And people who move with that type of authenticity don't lose, they learn. From the football field to Hollywood, from sleeping in his car to finding his place in a different world, this young man has a story worth hearing. Please welcome our pivot to a different world with Cornell Young.

• 2:40Speaker 01

  Hush, man. It's time to start the show, bro. You talking about.

• 2:42Speaker 02

  I'm just bullshitting with my light skin, brother.

• 2:44Speaker 01

  I already knew that was coming. Cornell, man. Young, welcome to the show, brother.

• 2:48Speaker 02

  Man, thank you.

• 2:49Speaker 01

  It is truly an honor, man. This is Channing Crowder. This is Fred Taylor. Ryan Clark, Pivot fan. Thank y'all for pivoting with us. First off, man, I was excited. I think I got in early on the DMs. You know, I'm sure they full now and it's probably a little difficult to reply to people. So I just really respect the fact that you got back to me, man, with a man of your word. That's extremely important in this business. I just want to ask, bro, like, what has the rise been like? Cause you're still young, you're young in the business, you're actually young in age and you go from almost obscurity to where you can't open up your phone and not see Cornell's face.

• 3:26Speaker 02

  Yeah, man, it's a blessing first and foremost. I thank God for it all, man. It's, you know, I mean, you work at something and I truly have the passion of acting. Like, I do it for the work. I show up, once we done filming, I'm on to the next. I'm not even thinking about like premiere day when it comes out, anything like that. I'm just like, I had fun, I enjoyed doing what it is that I do. And so anything extra, like what you're speaking of, man, that's, that's just all God and the works of his power. And I'm just grateful and I'm appreciative. And another thing, I'm a fan of this show, man. I'm a fan of each and every one of you, man. I grew up athlete, football, you know what I'm saying? So I know each and every, y'all was like, I'm, I'm like, I know y'all already. I feel like we already cool, you feel me? But no, I love the show and what y'all doing, what y'all speak about, what y'all stand

• 4:09Speaker 02

  for as black men, man, a safe space for people to just come, be able to express. And it's really a privilege to just be here first and foremost.

• 4:16Speaker 01

  Man, I appreciate that, man.

• 4:17Speaker 02

  But yeah, man, it's all God, brother. I'm just, I'm just grateful and I'm present every day. And I just want to continue to do my part at giving back and using my, my passion and my purpose and putting them together, brother. So I'm just grateful.

• 4:30Speaker 03

  But Howard, cause you were, you did play ball, like you saying, you played football.

• 4:33Speaker 02

  Yes, sir.

• 4:34Speaker 03

  A very tiny little school. I can't remember the name right now.

• 4:39Speaker 03

  Macamar State or some shit like.

• 4:42Speaker 03

  No, but, but you talking about the passion of acting though. Was it always there, the arts? Cause you said about you and your brother and you know, y'all art stuff, but you can't, you can't put all into the art of acting while you put them all into the art, into the game of football. Like, we can't do it. So where, where was the, where was the levels growing up to get where you are in acting? Cause football didn't work out.

• 5:01Speaker 02

  Yeah, man. So I started playing ball, I was six. That's just what it was. Y'all know how it is and play with my brothers growing up, my pops coach. So it was a thing where that was my life and I'm from St. Louis. So thinking about leaving St. Louis, it was like, oh, you want to go to college? Like that's going to get you out of the city. It wasn't no acting classes. It wasn't like how LA, I grew, I got friends. They was like, yeah, I knew so and so. We used, at the school, we used to go audition together. I'm like, we ain't had that. You know what I mean? That's something of the luxury of living in LA. But for us, it was just ball, it was sports, you know? We played a lot of sports. Growing up, me and my brother, my brother really, he started music and he started rapping at an early age. I'm talking about seven, eight. He was like, I'm talking about real life lyricist at a young age. And so we was just like, yo, let's, hey, yo, let's get a group together.

• 5:46Speaker 02

  So we just started rapping and doing stuff creatively, shooting music videos. We was doing the whole nine and it was just always had that form of, of creativity going, you know? So it was always a thing and we would like do skits and plays, but not really something we was trying to be out with, just something we just had fun doing. So when I got older, I always collected DVDs. So I love film. My pops always watching movies. So I would like collect DVDs to watch deleted scenes, extra cut, you know, and all that. But I just didn't know how to make that a thing for me as far as acting and connecting that until I got to college. I tore my hamstring, so I was out and I'm like, man, I'm majoring in marketing, mining in history. I'm like, these classes boring. I need something to spice it up. So let me take theater, you know, some, just to have me to do something.

• 6:30Speaker 02

  And once I got in them theater classes, man, it just, I started to feel like, nah, this, nah, this is, I like, really what got me is I was nervous. Man, we about to go on stage, I'm shaking. I'm like, nah, I gotta get past this. Like it became a challenge for me now. Like I can't, I need to have the confidence I have in other things in acting. And so it just kept working. I kept going to plays and rehearsals and getting better and better to, to the point to where COVID happened. Now I'm making the decision to ball and, you know, acting. And I was just like, yo, the only thing that was making me scared to choose acting was it was unfamiliar. Football, I knew, I got homies and I got, I know this arena. I don't know this acting arena and I was scared. And honestly, that's what made me make the decision was because I was scared. And I was like, nah, we gotta go at it for, for steam now. You know what I mean? Yeah, so.

• 7:15Speaker 04

  We, we remember the days when the Rams were trash, the St. Louis Rams.

• 7:20Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 7:20Speaker 04

  When they weren't that good. Then when they became the greatest show on turf, they were great. Uh, I think their last Super Bowl was in 99, the year before you were born. And then eventually.

• 7:30Speaker 02

  I know, right? Technically, they won in 2000.

• 7:33Speaker 03

  Well, yeah, 2000, yeah. Took three weeks before he was born.

• 7:37Speaker 02

  Don't rob me, don't rob me.

• 7:38Speaker 03

  No, right. Three weeks.

• 7:39Speaker 04

  And then eventually 16 years later, the NFL decides to, you know, uplift them and bring them out here to LA. The people in our age group, they're a bit pissed off about that decision. How does it feel with you and your football background, knowing you were robbed of your NFL team?

• 7:54Speaker 02

  Yeah, man. So honestly, I supported the Rams, but I was really never a Rams fan. But the city of St. Louis, man, it meant a lot for the city. And so, you know, when they was uprooting, it was kind of like, we don't have much, you know, we don't have a basketball team. We got the, the hockey, the baseball, but like football was really what we was, we was about. And so when they was getting rid of that, I was always a Seahawks fan. So even growing up, you know, I was Matt Hasselbeck, Shawn Alexander, cause I played running back first, so Shawn Alexander was my boy. You know what I'm saying? You too, Freddie, though. I rocked with you, Freddie. I ain't gonna hold you. I just come rock with the Jags, but I rock with you.

• 8:28Speaker 04

  Nah, it's all love.

• 8:28Speaker 02

  I rocked with you.

• 8:29Speaker 03

  But you had, you had J though.

• 8:30Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. We had, yeah, we had Stephen. Yeah, we had, so we had, you know, I was a big running back fan. So, you know, like Shawn, you, Steve, you know, y'all was them, y'all was them boys for sure coming in, in that time, man. Steve, I just, I used to play a lot of NFL streets. And so that's how I fell in love with, uh, Shawn. You know what I'm saying? So I just became a Seahawks fan after that. So I would like watch them, you know, when we could, we get a little ticket, go to the game, watch Seahawks play the Rams. And I miss it for that because it was an example of especially young kids coming up. That's what we, that's what we went to be inspired is going to a game, actually seeing the NFL and seeing these players. And so when they, when they took them, man, it was like, why y'all, why y'all leaving the city with that? You know what I'm saying? Yeah, they came, I heard the night I moved out here. I'm like, I don't need, I come to a game, support it at night and then, but you know.

• 9:15Speaker 01

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• 9:20Speaker 03

  Man, who showed out the most? Big trades, big signings, new coaches, who did it?

• 9:24Speaker 04

  I think that's easy. A few teams had some work done. Philly, LeBron, Jalen Brown.

• 9:29Speaker 03

  Boy, don't let, don't forget Miami now. Miami had Yanis, we added Klay, we got Tim Hardaway Jr. I think Miami gonna be special.

• 9:35Speaker 01

  Man, ain't nobody gonna set the world on fire like Ant and LaMelo now in Minnesota.

• 9:40Speaker 03

  True.

• 9:41Speaker 02

  That's true.

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• 10:41Speaker 01

  C Young, bro.

• 10:42Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 10:42Speaker 01

  You do not feel Hollywood at all.

• 10:45Speaker 02

  Man, brother.

• 10:45Speaker 01

  Like just the, and I say it in the, in the best way. We sat with Anthony Ramos, who was, right? Trained in theater, he was in Hamilton, he's done. And as he's talking to me, I was like, bro, you just still feel like you from New York.

• 10:58Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 10:59Speaker 01

  Right? Like talking to you, like I feel it, like you just a cat from St. Louis.

• 11:02Speaker 02

  Yes, sir.

• 11:03Speaker 01

  What has been sort of the adjustment of getting used to the people of Hollywood? Because not everybody's gonna be built with the foundations that you were growing up in St. Louis.

• 11:15Speaker 02

  Yeah, I mean, I appreciate that first and foremost. Again, man, I only can be who I am, you know what I'm saying? So when it come to the extras, I always told myself, I'm like, I knew who I was before. So I would never let something or some industry change who I am. I'm from, I'm from St. Louis, born and raised. A lot of people in this industry never found themselves. You know, I went through, through a lot and it would be disrespectful to God to be any different and to go against the promise that I made to him and that he made to me. Like, when I moved out here, some things weren't left, a lot of things weren't, you know, I had to learn the Hollywood way. That mouth don't mean nothing, you know? For me, I'm a man of my word. I say I'm gonna be there, I say I'm gonna do something, I'm gonna do something. People told me some things, I moved out here on the strength of that, that failed through. So I was out here and three months later, I lost my crib.

• 11:59Speaker 02

  I was in my car, got my car repo. I was in Sturwell, shouting at LA Fitnesses, Planet Fitnesses. And during that time, man, I told God, thank you, thank you for, and I'm able, you know, I got my limbs, I'm healthy, you know what I mean? I thank God for everything I did have and I knew, I told, I said, God, you removing everything from my past life and make way for my new. And I knew that and I promised him, God, I feel it coming. Stay put, that's what I just kept hearing in my mind, stay put, stay here, you here for a reason, stay here, stay here. Don't go home, don't go back. During that time, I told him, I said, God, once I get what you have for me, I promise to never change and I promise to always give back and uplift and bring people in with me.

• 12:41Speaker 02

  So that's always been my ministry and I'm just grateful that I'm, I'm, I'm in the position that I am. And so, man, again, I just live in gratitude, brother. And I just, I only can be me.

• 12:53Speaker 01

  How difficult was it to stay put, though? It's so hard, you know, people always give sort of the monologue of what happens after the storm.

• 13:02Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm, yeah.

• 13:03Speaker 01

  And how they're in, walking in a space of gratitude, but they never talk about trying to stay in that space of gratitude through the storm or in the midst of the storm. How difficult was it to stay put? Because like you said, acting wasn't the thing you knew, you chose it. Someone gave you their word and went back on it and now your life is in upheaval. What was it that kept you strong in your belief that this is where you're supposed to be?

• 13:29Speaker 02

  I believe in, you know, your life as a testimony, as we read, as we know about. And so I think a lot of people can thank God when everything's going right, but can you thank God when everything's not going your way? And I think that's the real challenge and the test of faith is when it's not going your way. How are you responding? You know, because as a man, we supposed to respond. A lot of people react. And I just wanted to respond in a proper way and I just continued to ask God, what do you want from me? And in that, and in that space, things were opening up, but it still wasn't changing, but I, I saw it, you know what I mean? I'll ask for it, I'll ask for the discernment and I saw it. I think, again, it's just being grateful of what you have and I think that's life period, man.

• 14:10Speaker 02

  You know, even, even with, you know, each and every one of you, you, you've always reached a high level of success. And in that, you continue to move the goalpost for yourself. You're not, I know what first was get to college, then it was get to NFL and you were getting there, but you kept moving the goalpost.

• 14:23Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 14:24Speaker 02

  But at the same time, grateful that, God, thank you for getting me before I, God, thank you for getting me to the NFL. God, thank you for getting me that next contract. God, thank you for allowing me to stay healthy this year. Like those things, just being grateful in the moments and appreciative of each and every step because you always in position of what you prayed for. Yes, I was in my car, but God, I made it to LA. I'm grateful to be here to have the opportunities because of a call come, I'm able to just pull up rather than I gotta try to fly, find a place to stay, find, I'm here. So I knew that my life could change by one audition. I knew that my life could change by, you know, just standing down. And so I was grateful to just be in the room, be in the space to where I knew I was one call away.

• 15:04Speaker 03

  No, brother, it hit me when you say it was in your car because, and first, like to RC's point, you're newly famous, there's not a lot of information about you. Because we do research on people, like you just jumped on the scene as this very attractive, young, light-skinned man with pretty eyes. You see, I put my dreads away, because

• 15:22Speaker 03

  I said, yeah, let me tuck my knee in today because I ain't, I ain't about to compete with the dread with, uh, with goddamn. But you say you was in your car, you got a, you got a family unit, you got a strong family. Why ain't you reach out? Was it pride? Why didn't you reach back out when you're living in your car?

• 15:36Speaker 02

  I didn't want nobody worrying about me, you know? I didn't want to reach out, I know, if I reached out to mine, they would've been like, come on, you know what I mean? Come here. And just in that space, I was like, I made this decision to be here. I'm gonna see it through, you know what I mean? And I'm gonna go through it and I knew that I would be okay. I just had the faith that I would be okay. I'm like, I'm gonna be all right. And I do come from a strong background and my family so solid, I'm so appreciative to have the family that I have and came up the way that I came up. Came up very old school, traditional and I'm grateful that I had two parents, you know what I'm saying? And, and a man in the house that really raised us on principles and, and, and real life morals. And so I, I was just in a state of like, you gotta get through this yourself, you know? You, you, you a man, but you gotta move like that.

• 16:17Speaker 02

  I just, it wasn't pride, it wasn't like pride, like I can't reach out, it was more so I don't want to reach out. You know, I want to go through this, I want to feel this and I know there's something on the other side because anytime you sacrifice, you know, there's gonna be someone on the side to promise, you know what I'm saying? It's, it's God's promise. You lean on God and you say, God, I'm here off the faith of you and I'm gonna continue to rock with you. God gonna give it to you, but he gonna put you through something, he gotta test you. You gotta test your soldiers, they don't just throw people at war. You gotta test a soldier, make sure he ready, I ain't ready for war, you gonna mess up, you know what I mean? He gonna, he gonna throw us off. I gotta test you, I gotta see how far can I push you? And I knew that the Lord was testing me, so it was just like, but I knew it was coming. I'm telling, I, I never had doubt of it. I would go to sleep, I would go to sleep smiling in the car, backseat. I'll be smiling, God, thank you, because I know it's coming.

• 17:01Speaker 02

  I just gotta stay down, I just gotta keep going, you know what I mean? I gotta, I gotta stay here mentally strong and that's all it was, man. Because I promise you, the way that it sound and a lot of people like, dang, how did you? I mean, but I went to sleep cool, though, because I knew, like I'm talking about, I would pray, thanking God every night in that backseat, cold nights. LA get cold at night, they don't tell y'all.

• 17:21Speaker 02

  They don't tell y'all, when the sun go down, it's chilly. You can't keep the car running for the heat. It get chilly, man, I'm two hoodies on, I'm like, you know? And I'm from, I'm from St. Louis, snow up there. It get cold in LA at no night. But again, it was a blessing, man, it was a blessing and, again, I was just grateful for it. It's, it's, people always asking, how do you have that energy to it? I'm just like, man, just my faith in that time and even now, it just, it can't be shaped, man. I got such a strong bond and relationship with God, I'm just grateful.

• 17:48Speaker 03

  This ain't a godly thought, but you not utilizing all your abilities. You should not look the way you look and be sleeping in the car, you could find a sugar mama.

• 17:56Speaker 03

  Real talk, young blood, like, if I was your uncle, I'd be like, bro, go find you a, a rich one. Throw a little thing on him and you have your bed every single night.

• 18:05Speaker 02

  Uncle Chan.

• 18:06Speaker 03

  You got somewhere to sleep.

• 18:07Speaker 02

  You got somewhere to sleep.

• 18:08Speaker 03

  You got somewhere to sleep. Give her a little bit of rest.

• 18:11Speaker 02

  Utilizing your resources.

• 18:13Speaker 03

  Utilizing your resources, young man.

• 18:15Speaker 02

  Got somewhere to base?

• 18:16Speaker 03

  Everything.

• 18:17Speaker 02

  Ain't he gonna cook for her?

• 18:19Speaker 03

  I'm telling you.

• 18:19Speaker 02

  See, you don't tell them about the other side of that, though, man. And that, hey, the waters get deep.

• 18:26Speaker 03

  Sometimes he want some sugar.

• 18:27Speaker 02

  Now they feel obligated.

• 18:28Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah, oh, it's 16 hours of the day, you can sleep for eight, because you gotta worry about them 16.

• 18:33Speaker 02

  I gotta worry about them 16, I gotta worry about them 16. I ain't trying to worry about them 16, I keep it on it.

• 18:38Speaker 01

  Yeah, where you at?

• 18:42Speaker 02

  Well, hey, this you gonna be talking.

• 18:44Speaker 01

  To him, we're like, old people, tell me, where you at, job, turkey?

• 18:49Speaker 04

  You said you would never forget who you are and where you came from, and you gonna stay where God put you.

• 18:55Speaker 02

  Yes, sir.

• 18:55Speaker 04

  Alright, so Hillman is an HBCU. So if we were a power four and came with you with a big bag, you leaving?

• 19:05Speaker 04

  The big NIL bag?

• 19:06Speaker 02

  What's the big NIL bag?

• 19:08Speaker 04

  Probably like two million a year.

• 19:09Speaker 02

  Two million a year? Nah, I'm rocking with him.

• 19:13Speaker 01

  Cause the million, the million. That's Shaquille talking, that is.

• 19:15Speaker 04

  That's Shaquille.

• 19:16Speaker 01

  That's Shaquille talking.

• 19:18Speaker 02

  Shaquille got a good public.

• 19:22Speaker 02

  Nah, but real though, man, I think after experiencing an HBCU and what it provides, man, the money's coming. You know that, you know what I'm saying? Once you hit that, you know, where he's going, especially Shaquille, the money's coming. But I think what he's learning and what he's taking from, you know, Hillman is something that's very, very, very important in the long run, just as a man, you know what I'm saying? But you know, at the end of the season, we gonna have to see what his decision is, cause you know how it's shaking up, you know what I mean?

• 19:49Speaker 01

  You had that Cam Jordan, you guys were in there talking stupid though.

• 19:52Speaker 02

  Cam on here, he crazy, right? I had to tell him, I'm like, Cam, how you gonna mix the words up like that, gangster? And you know this side of the seat, why you gonna put me in the seat, you know what I mean?

• 20:01Speaker 01

  Nah, that was fucked up.

• 20:02Speaker 02

  But it was cool though, yeah.

• 20:03Speaker 04

  And with a film as historically culturally significant as Different World, did you feel the pressure having to carry that legacy?

• 20:13Speaker 02

  Man, I was privileged. I always say that, brother, like, I grew up loving the show. This and Martin was my favorite two shows of all time, right?

• 20:21Speaker 04

  The show ended before you was born.

• 20:23Speaker 02

  Yeah, I am, I'm an old soul, pretty.

• 20:24Speaker 04

  Okay, alright.

• 20:26Speaker 01

  Both of y'all.

• 20:26Speaker 02

  Movies, movies, shows, I'm old school with the music. It's, you know, it goes deep. I'm, I'm listening to, to, yeah, yeah. I'm talking about what the grandfathers grew up on, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, you know, the OJs, Peo Bryson, Teddy Pendergrass.

• 20:45Speaker 04

  He recruiting a bunch of teams now.

• 20:47Speaker 02

  Nah, that's just my vibe though, you know, I grew up like that though. My house, like again, my grandmother and her siblings, they are my great aunts, but like, they was like my immediate uncle and aunt. So my father, he grew up only child, so like, I grew up with them in close proximity and we played Faze every weekend and family dinner every Sunday. So it was always, that's what was around me. That's what I grew up listening to, that's what, you know, I was around. But to answer your question with that, A Different World and Martin was my favorite two shows of all time, so I would watch a lot of that. And so when the auditions even came around, I was like, yeah, I need to be on there, like, immediately. So, but now, you know, Meet the People, not only are they phenomenal actors, man, they're phenomenal people. And like, we are a family. When I say, I ain't never experienced nothing like this.

• 21:30Speaker 02

  Man, tight knit, I'm talking about, they take care of us, they make sure we good, they, they, they give us game. We eat, we eat dinner together, we make sure we get together, increase sales, we get to, we hang out on purpose. You know, it's all intentional and I'm just very grateful and appreciative that I was able to be part of something so legendary and to now leave with family, not just friends. Like, I leave with family, we talk to each other often in group chats. We all together and so, it was a privilege, man. Of course, when we first got signed on, everybody was like, man, don't mess up our show, like this and that, we heard all that. But again, when you got a team, y'all know how it is, man, you got a team like that, it's just like, if God is with us, who can be against us? That's how I felt. Like, we gonna make something special.

• 22:11Speaker 02

  And especially, everybody's faith is so strong in that circle. It just, I didn't, I never was, I never was nervous. Never was nervous, I'm just grateful.

• 22:19Speaker 01

  I think the, the cool thing about it is too, so many times you get these reboots that don't pay homage to what the original was.

• 22:27Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 22:27Speaker 01

  Right? But by having Jasmine and Kadim and everybody come back for the show, they got to be a part of it. So it wasn't like we were, we were saying the show we grew up with was gone, it was just made new. And I think that's what was cool, because now you're introducing, they call y'all the Big Six, but now you're introducing like another crew of talented, young, minority actors who bring the culture in, but also bring a high level of talent and skill.

• 22:56Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 22:56Speaker 01

  And I think that was important, cause that's what they did, you know, for us. And as you guys are seeing the final product, but more importantly, seeing the reaction that people who knew about the original had, and then some of the new viewers and fans and supporters you were supposed to get, how good did it feel, man, to know you had made something that connected with a large group of people?

• 23:20Speaker 02

  Man, again, blessing. I just thank God that it resonated with so many people and they felt like, yo, I see myself in Shaquille, I see myself in DeBor, I see myself in Rashida Coadle, Amir Hazel. We, we do this for representation. We do this for people to be able to see themselves, especially in a project, in a show like, you know, A Different World, where we're, you know, the original boosted HBCU enrollment by 30%.

• 23:44Speaker 01

  Wow.

• 23:44Speaker 02

  You know what I'm saying? And to our, our production, for our show, we shot it on the grounds of HBCU, historic grounds, you know, Clark Atlanta, Spelman, Morehouse, and 60% of our production, our team actors, background actors, all went to HBCU. So the feeling and to really be a part of that, man, it's just, it's a blessing. And again, to see the, the, the response, you know, social media, how people love this show and they're responding to it and then, man, I was at Howard the other weekend and just to hear people like, it was some high schoolers visiting and a mom walked up to me and she told me, she said, I just want to say thank you. And I'm like, what's going on? She was like, I went to Howard, my parents went to Howard, my grandparents went to Howard.

• 24:26Speaker 02

  My daughter was literally committed to go to another school, you know? And she said, you came, she watched the show, she loved it, and she was open to Howard, so that's why we here.

• 24:39Speaker 01

  Wow.

• 24:39Speaker 02

  But you came and you took pictures with everybody and you grabbed and you speaking to her, she's committed to come to Howard now. And I'm just like, man, that's a, like, that's a blessing, you know what I mean? And then it was, I'm just blessed and grateful that people are resonating so well and they, they are really just enjoying the show. And even if it's not an HBCU, they're inspired to just go further. And, and, and, you know, any type of secondary education, if that's the route they want to take, and they, and they seeing themselves and they're able to. Some people are just scared to go. Some people just don't want to leave home, they're afraid to be by themselves. And so to see people do it, it makes them feel like, hey, I can do it, you know, I'm similar to them, man. I can get this type of friend group and I can, it just, I'm just grateful again, man.

• 25:19Speaker 01

  The conversation that that mom is gonna have to have with her daughter on the way home is that they don't all look like this at HBCU. I hope she, like, that's what they did me on the visit. You go on the visit, they give you the senior to walk around, you get to school, she married, she gone, she in love. I was like, where's she at?

• 25:37Speaker 02

  Right.

• 25:37Speaker 01

  Yeah. She told, she told me we was going to all the parties. She the reason I competed? Yeah, you know what I'm saying? So I was like, they ain't gonna look like him. And for you, obviously, there was initially the, the hard push or the social media push because of your looks, right? Is there ever a space though, in this business, where having a certain look can work against you? Where people can't see you in the spaces of some other things artistic?

• 26:08Speaker 02

  I definitely think it can play a part, you know, if you play into it. You know, most of the time, they're gonna want you to play the good looking, the attractive, neighbor next door, the boyfriend is. They gonna kind of want you to play those roles. So as an artist, you just gotta be particular on what you do and how you do it. But for me, I really pride myself on the craft and how I work. Yeah, it's just being, being selective on what, what it is that you do. And so you not putting yourself just, just to this, cause, you know, a lot of people, I don't care, I say, a lot of people in, in the industry are very simple minded. And I'm not talking about the creatives, I'm talking about the business.

• 26:40Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 26:40Speaker 02

  They get simple minded, you know what I mean? And they, they, they only see what they can see, rather than like, really watching a lot of, you know, arts. The creatives know. So you, you good in those spaces.

• 26:51Speaker 01

  Yeah, cause I feel like the, the big thing would be to not be typecast.

• 26:55Speaker 02

  Exactly.

• 26:56Speaker 01

  Right? Because there's the, the unattractive dude, and he like always a gangster or all, right? He's always fitting to this place, cause, okay, he might, he might not be able to be the leading man. But then we also have this perspective on life that someone with a certain level of attractiveness can't be tough or can't be whatever. And so I know, I was just wondering how much that plays into your thought process in picking roles.

• 27:21Speaker 04

  That's just the burden we have to carry.

• 27:22Speaker 01

  The burden here.

• 27:25Speaker 03

  Yeah, see what? We gotta, we gotta carry that burden.

• 27:27Speaker 02

  I don't know, so, like, a couple of weeks ago.

• 27:29Speaker 03

  It's tough, ain't it?

• 27:30Speaker 02

  Cornell, a couple of weeks ago, bro, we did, hey, we did John Legend, right? So every time we get a light-skinned cat, he put, he indoctrinate them into the light-skinned group. So who's the, who's the, who's our group now?

• 27:40Speaker 03

  Boris, me.

• 27:42Speaker 02

  Boris Kojo.

• 27:42Speaker 03

  Barack.

• 27:43Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 27:44Speaker 03

  Uh, we let Steph in.

• 27:46Speaker 02

  But Steph ain't done the show, we gotta, you, okay, yup.

• 27:49Speaker 03

  Cornell's on there now, yeah, yeah. And I put him over the edge, we know Sam, he was on the edge. I said, this nigga got green eyes on him, just.

• 27:59Speaker 03

  But we, we, I'm talking about diversity. This JV coming up through the ranks.

• 28:03Speaker 02

  Oh, right.

• 28:03Speaker 03

  But you can't look like you look and be a crackhead.

• 28:07Speaker 02

  You don't think I can?

• 28:08Speaker 03

  I don't think you could act as a crackhead.

• 28:09Speaker 02

  Why don't you think I could?

• 28:10Speaker 03

  I don't think you could be a serial killer.

• 28:12Speaker 02

  Why not?

• 28:12Speaker 03

  You.

• 28:13Speaker 04

  Wasn't, uh, Halle Berry a crackhead?

• 28:14Speaker 02

  Halle Berry, and that was just mom on the show.

• 28:16Speaker 03

  Yeah, that's what, you, you.

• 28:17Speaker 02

  You don't think, she played a crackhead, and she beautiful.

• 28:20Speaker 03

  You, you could be a crackhead, though?

• 28:22Speaker 02

  You think attractive people, you think people, you think crackheads was never attractive?

• 28:26Speaker 03

  Yeah, and the old monster ball, too.

• 28:28Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 28:28Speaker 03

  Make me feel good.

• 28:30Speaker 02

  Yeah, brother, it's all about them chops. You don't think I could play a serial killer?

• 28:34Speaker 03

  Now that you're looking at me with the deep eyes.

• 28:36Speaker 02

  Exactly, right, yeah, now look at me.

• 28:36Speaker 03

  I really just wanna give you a hug, to be honest.

• 28:38Speaker 02

  Some serial killers ain't gotta be, some serial killers ain't gotta be crazy. Some can be very nice. They say Ted Bundy was a real nice guy. Very attractive, very, he had, he was charismatic.

• 28:47Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 28:48Speaker 02

  Yeah, so there's so many different ways to play something, too.

• 28:51Speaker 03

  I got you.

• 28:51Speaker 02

  You know what I mean?

• 28:52Speaker 03

  Is that, what would be, what would be a, as your career grows, have you ever thought about like a tough role for you to play?

• 28:57Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 28:58Speaker 03

  Cause you don't seem like a.

• 28:59Speaker 02

  You sound like a hard role to play?

• 29:00Speaker 03

  A hard, yeah, a hard role to you to play, cause you don't seem like a, you don't seem like you like humans to be, be, be, you know, you don't seem like you, you'll be a hunter. You don't seem like you want people, things to be hurt, killed and things of that nature. You seem a very calm, level-headed person.

• 29:15Speaker 02

  Yeah, I mean, I, I like to be challenged, you know what I mean? So honestly, I don't know it's a role that I, it's when I read the script. So it, it don't even matter about the, the role too much, it doesn't matter about the, the script, the story. If the story pulls me, I can play whatever role, you know what I mean? But I gotta be pulled by the story. So I get a lot of scripts when I'm reading, I'm just like, the story don't grab me, you know what I mean? So it's not something that, I have to feel tied to it. Once my, once I feel it in here, you know, that spirit, that gut, or if I'm reading it and I feel the heaviness, or I feel, whatever it is that the story is trying to do, if it moves me, then I'm like, oh, I can play whatever role. I grew up in St. Louis, I've seen it all, that's why I said, I, you know, I, I done seen fiends, I done seen junk, I done seen it all, like, all, I'm talking about all, every level of it.

• 29:57Speaker 02

  Like, I grew up, yes, very much like that, so I done seen every walk of life, on both sides, both spectrums. So I done seen, you know, I grew up in a predominantly black neighborhood, I went to a school with metal detectors off the, clear book bags, you know what I'm saying? That was my high school. So I transferred to the predominantly white high school where we could have did whatever we wanted, we could leave for lunch, you know what I mean? I went, my first high school, they treated us like prisoners, at the time, you know what I'm saying? Where first 30 minutes, last 30 minutes, you couldn't leave the class. We had block days, we had to do four, four classes a day, we couldn't do the segment because they didn't want us moving around that much. They had to maintain us, so you couldn't go to bed in the first 30, last 30, only 30 minutes. And even then, you had to be walked by a DSO, an officer. Like, it was like that, you know what I'm saying? So I didn't been in those environments, and I had been in these environments, and I done seen everything. In my whole life, I've been a people watcher.

• 30:41Speaker 02

  So all I've done is just collect data, and I didn't know how much I could use that in acting until I started acting, where it's like, no, I know this dude. I know this dude, I know this dude, I can watch you long enough, and I'm like, oh, yeah, I can do those mannerisms. I act like, I act like my uncle all the time, I grew up impersonating people my whole life. And I didn't know that was acting, then I'm just being goofy, you know, my, my uncle, my aunts, and my, my cousins, I'm just acting like them, and the family bugging up, like, you act just like them. And I'm like, I ain't know I was acting, I'm just trying to make people laugh, you know what I'm saying? Have a good time, but you start to really see how much you pick up on certain things and certain people, man, you know, just, I feel like I can play anything, especially, even if it's something new. I just watch it long enough, study it long enough, I'm like, oh, I can do that, so.

• 31:20Speaker 04

  People watching must be that, uh, Aquarius in you.

• 31:23Speaker 02

  Come on, now.

• 31:23Speaker 03

  Yeah, you already know what it is.

• 31:25Speaker 04

  You said we.

• 31:25Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's what I'm saying, we locked in.

• 31:26Speaker 04

  What we doing for, uh, Super Bowl this year?

• 31:28Speaker 02

  It's on my birthday.

• 31:29Speaker 04

  I know.

• 31:29Speaker 02

  I'm trying to go.

• 31:30Speaker 04

  We gonna be out here.

• 31:31Speaker 02

  Y'all gonna be out here?

• 31:32Speaker 04

  Yeah, we doing something.

• 31:32Speaker 02

  Let's link.

• 31:33Speaker 04

  We gonna be working.

• 31:33Speaker 02

  We gonna do it. Knocked down, I'm down, I'm gonna be here, too.

• 31:36Speaker 04

  Well, nah, seriously, though, um, I did wanna say Aaron Pierre. Actor, Rebel Ridge, you know, he playing multiple roles and stuff, two people finding really attractive, right, attractive. Shaquille Johnson, right? He, he has to live up to his father's expectations.

• 31:50Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 31:51Speaker 04

  Have you, yourself, Cornell, had, had to, uh, live up to anybody's expectations for their visions on your life?

• 31:58Speaker 02

  That's a good question. I feel like I didn't, I didn't have to live up to an expectation, per se, but I definitely wanted to make certain people happy.

• 32:09Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 32:09Speaker 02

  So that's in a sense, the same thing, it's same actions, you know what I mean? So my pops played ball, and, uh, he, you know, he played running back, and he was, he was, he was cold. And so for me, I think I was so focused on football so much to like, also like, that was me in my dad's mind, I loved it. I'm not saying that I didn't love it, but I do think I, I hung on longer than I would have.

• 32:33Speaker 04

  Connection.

• 32:33Speaker 02

  Because of the connection, that I was like, y'all gotta play ball, like, you know, my pops, my pops just wanted me to be happy, man, like, you know what I'm saying? But for me, I'm like, this is how we, like, I grew up first playing the game with him. Then I was, he knew like, oh, he's interested in this, boy, I wanted to watch football, I wanna do this, so then he threw me out there, I'm running back, instantly, I just was good, like, as a kid, like, I hold record, all the records that my little, like, all that, I hold all the records there, like, I was, they called me the savior, like. I'm being real, I'm being so honest, like, I hold every record in that league, like, I was, you know, that, and then I got hurt, I, uh, dislocated my elbow fracture, they put a screw in there, changed my thing, my mental at that time, I was 13, 14, and I had to come over that hurdle, you know what I'm saying?

• 33:12Speaker 02

  And I'm still playing ball, but at the same time, like, I was getting pulled away, like, a lot of things, you know, the politics, and it, man, and, and a lot, a lot of other things, and, um, it was other things I was interested in, man, I loved hooping, and then I loved acting, and I loved, it was things I was interested in, but I wouldn't lean that way, cause I'm like, I gotta keep playing ball.

• 33:30Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 33:30Speaker 02

  I gotta prove I can make it, I gotta prove I can, and had I not done that, it would have been different, but I'm glad I didn't, you know what I mean? Ball taught me so much, even going to college, and all the things I learned from it, and, you know, and the, the foundation that I have, being, you know, captain, and leader, leadership, and team camaraderie, sacrificing. Like, it was a lot of times where I had to step away and go do this, you know, play this position for the team, or do this, kind of play different roles, and I'm just grateful, all the things I learned from it, but definitely, man, I definitely feel I, I, I, I played longer than I probably would have.

• 34:03Speaker 01

  How do you take those lessons, though, that you learned from football?

• 34:07Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 34:07Speaker 01

  That dedication, that sacrifice, doing things for, for the team, and now apply it to your passion and your trade now?

• 34:14Speaker 02

  Yeah, man, it's so similar, you know, even in, in the spaces, man, just being, being a, a team player, cause this is all, all of it, you know, the production, the actors, directors, just everybody, we, we work as a team, and we are one. So even on the days where it's late shooting, like, I just got this energy where I'm like, cool, let's go, just hyping up people and, you know, making sure people feel good and feel ready, and I come in here, make up, try to speak to everybody, and I want people to, you know, I just wanna spread that love and that energy, similar to ball, in a different way, cause, you know, we a little more hyped, we more aggressive, I'm a little more nice, just the hugs and the extra things that I have, but I have the energy,

• 34:48Speaker 02

  being an athlete, to where I'm just ready, like, no matter the time, the early mornings, I got the energy, cause, you know, getting up, crack of dawn, for this, this, and that, and just the, the leadership of it, you know, just coming in the space, making sure everybody feels seen, even if it's, cause, you know, in acting, you may have an actor who's just there for that day.

• 35:06Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 35:06Speaker 02

  But, so they, they come in, they haven't met anybody, they shoot they scene that day, they don't know nobody there. So just making sure they feel good and comfortable, coming in, what's good, man, my name Cornell, pleasure to meet you, brother, like, where you from? Ah, boom, boom, boom, making them kind of be like, okay.

• 35:19Speaker 01

  You're part of the crew.

• 35:20Speaker 02

  You're a part of the crew, you know, you're not, cause a lot of people, even when I came in, you come across a project, you feel outcasted, like, ah, they coming down, they be going tomorrow. Like, people have that mentality, where it's like, I'm gonna do their job and go, but it's like, no, I want you to feel good, I want you to feel comfortable, and you a human, you need to be, you know, what's good, I'm, I'm, I'ma speak to everybody, that's just how I'm raised. You don't come in no room, you speak to everybody, if you walked in a room, you speak to everybody in the room, you know what I mean? How y'all doing? I'm, make sure everybody cool, and so that's the similar energy I bring to acting, and I bring in that space, it's like, I want everybody to feel comfortable, I want everybody to, we are one, you know? This all happens because each of us are here, and so even in a scene, you, I wanna at least talk to you, get to know you, so when we, also, when we hop in the scene, I know you, you know what I mean?

• 36:00Speaker 02

  Like, you feel comfortable when we saying these words, and we, but it ain't acting, cause act, a real actor don't act. You know what I mean? We sitting there, if you acting, you, you're not in it.

• 36:10Speaker 01

  Yup.

• 36:10Speaker 02

  I shouldn't be feeling like, I gotta force this line, when it's forceful, that's when I'm like, ah, let's, let's, let's run, let's, let's, let's smoothing this out, cause I should, it should come out naturally, it should feel good. Just making sure everybody feel good, man, and, and just trying to be, be, be a, be a positive energy in, in the rooms, and I got that from sports, cause that's how I was, every, every teammate that know me, like, I'ma hype up. Even if it was one where I'm talking trash to the DBs, I pay, I end up changing the receiver, I gotta, I'm talking trash to every DB before practice, because I want the best out of you, you know what I'm saying? I want, when we go, I want the best out of you, I want you to come every time, and when you do your thing, I'ma give you your props. I'm still telling you, you probably trash after. Gotta humble you, you know what I mean?

• 36:48Speaker 03

  It's weird.

• 36:48Speaker 02

  Trash, though, but.

• 36:50Speaker 03

  Wow, one out of 20?

• 36:51Speaker 02

  All right. Yeah, but it, it's still, you know, it's the love there, you know, and I'm, I'ma hype up every time, and I'ma show love every time, you know, and so just having that, that, that, that athletic background, man, I'm just forever grateful for.

• 37:03Speaker 01

  What I was happy about is, I hate when they pull an actor who's never thrown a football and make him throw a football.

• 37:08Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 37:08Speaker 01

  That just make me sick, or a hollow boy ran that route in All-American, where he got to the top of the route.

• 37:14Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 37:14Speaker 01

  And that boy said.

• 37:15Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 37:17Speaker 01

  Bro was pissed off for two weeks, so I'm glad, man, you at least had that. I wanna know, when you went on the, uh, the shop, was it your plan to turn all the A.T.s up? Right? Cause you start, cause, cause, cause listen, I'ma tell you now, when you hit him with the, yeah, you know, I just always been around older women, I like older women. I know A.T.s is like, see, we got a shot, you had people all in the hairdressers, people were getting their nails done. When you said that, did you know it would end up being such a big thing?

• 37:46Speaker 02

  Man, no, I'm just being honest, you know what I mean? I only could be, again, I tell, I only could be myself, man, I'm being real, you know, I've always just dated older women. I grew up, I got four older sisters. My sisters ranged from seven years older to about four and a half, five. So I was on all they friends. I'm being real, like I'm being honest with you. I'm shooting and I'm real life, like on that. I'm like, what y'all on like, you know, I'm on that. So I remember one man, Siobhan, she broke my heart. So I'ma tell you how she did it though. She played it cold. You hear me? I'm about 10, 11. And I'm like, she called me her lil husband. She was like, that's my lil husband, that's my lil husband. You can't be playing with me at 10, 11, I want you for real. You know what I'm saying?

• 38:29Speaker 02

  So she, she about senior high, she graduating at this year. So it was her senior year and she was on it and we were, you know what I'm saying? I'm like, yeah, like boom, boom. She like, nah, babe. I'm like, she like, I'm about to go to school, I'm about to go off to college. I'm like, all right, just wait on me, like we good, you know what I'm saying? In my mind, this really gonna happen. She was like, yeah, cause when you 18, we getting married. She was saying this, you know, she joking around, but I'm 10, 11. Everything's real to me. You know what I mean? So I remember I'm about, okay, like a year ago, not even, like a semester ago, but she in college now. So my sister, Cornell Siobhan coming over. I'm, ooh, I'm outside, I'm outside, I'm waiting on the quarter pull up. You know what I'm saying? I'm feeling good, I snuck on my daddy cologne, I'm like, yeah, we good. She pull up, she like, hey, I'm like, what's going on? Some dude bop out the passenger seat.

• 39:14Speaker 02

  I said, who he? Who is he though? And she like, nah, lil husband ain't even like, I'm like.

• 39:23Speaker 02

  Turned out it's her boyfriend, you know what I'm saying? Broke my heart, I'm talking about shattered, like I really was hurt, you know what I'm saying? In that moment, like, I saw, I saw her not too long ago too, but I told her too, I'm like, nah, man, you done broke my heart now. You know what I mean? She like, nah, nah, but then you gone now, I'm like.

• 39:40Speaker 01

  Now I'm older, now I'm older.

• 39:42Speaker 02

  Nah, but it was love, it's all love with her. And but from like just that moment, I always been attracted to older, older, older women, older vibes. I grew up, I told you, older like that around my great uncles, aunts, conversations we had. So once I got legal, you know, it was, it was something that just, it clicked, you know, when I would meet them. Just the energy, energy wise and just where I was and the things that interest me typically, you know, align with older women. So that's just what it was. And I'm not saying it's not women my age or a little, little younger, I don't go, that aren't mature. But I'm saying typically for me, it's been older.

• 40:19Speaker 01

  At least Siobhan ain't turn you into a savage though.

• 40:21Speaker 02

  Yeah, she ain't turn me into no savage. She hurt me though, bad, bad.

• 40:25Speaker 01

  Everybody gotta pay for Siobhan.

• 40:27Speaker 02

  Everybody, everybody.

• 40:28Speaker 01

  If your heart broke, blame it on Siobhan.

• 40:32Speaker 03

  You don't like these jitter bugs. But the, the fame of it though, like the, the social media and all that stuff. Are you, you say your old soul, but you have to play in the realm of young people right now. How do, how do you deal with the, the, it is a responsibility of what you have to do to be an actor and to be famous? But you seem like you don't like the bullshit. Like I said, you're very secretive. Like I was hearing stuff about you, like you have 19 siblings. I'm like, the man got 19 siblings? There's all kind of stuff out there about you, you never speak on. But you have to be in both sides. How do you deal with the, I guess the totality of your fame?

• 41:06Speaker 02

  Yeah, man, first and foremost, social media, that, it's not a real place. And I know that, you know, I didn't heard all type of stuff. They say I'm doing this, I'm making this, I'm this, am I heard not real? I didn't heard it all. Say you put on the 10 pound wig every day, I'm like, all right, you know what I'm saying? But just let the noise be the noise, I know who I am and I'm just a big family man. So as long as I'm surrounded by the love I have, my, my, my family, social media, man, I go there for the business, you know? And I make sure that I post, interact what I wanna do. I have fun making, making my pose, picking my sounds and really connecting with the people that, you know, show the love. I just be where the love at honestly, when it comes to that. But I don't play into nothing that, that don't serve me, you know? If it's something that's just negative or down, brother, like I don't allow it to seep into my spirit.

• 41:51Speaker 02

  I don't have time for it, space for it. I just only wanna be where the love at, where the positivity at, where the good energy at. So honestly, man, it don't really move, like people ask me like about it and I, I don't see it in a way of like, oh my gosh. I'm just like, yo, how are you as a person? Yeah, it's cool to, you know, grow and meet certain people that you grown up idolizing or being inspired by rather. I don't care about, I'd like, who are you as people? You know what I mean? Like, are you a good person? You know what I'm saying? Yeah, you got, you done great work and I love your music, or I love this, or I love, but are you a good person? Like, you know, at the end of the day, because that's what we hang our ass on as souls living on this earth, you know? You could do all those other things, but again, I just try to be a good, a good man, a better man every day, serve my family. I'm, that's all I care about.

• 42:36Speaker 01

  How are you sifting through new relationships? And I'm not talking about women, I'm talking about in life, in, in business, in friendships. I've seen you twice now, I saw you at the Atlanta Dream Game, you were with your brother there, right? Same thing here, you know, as you continue to ascend in this business and being around you becomes beneficial to other people. There will be people who try to start new relationships with you and build connections with you. And you know what I mean? Like you feel like, it's like hanging around us, right? From a place where community is important, family is important, more than anything, respect and being real is important. This is not a real place either. Hollywood's not that sort of place.

• 43:18Speaker 01

  How are you sifting through the new relations, relationships people are trying to build with you?

• 43:23Speaker 02

  First and foremost, I pray every day to God for discernment, you know, for me to be able to just see clearly and for people to expose themselves, because it's the law, they gonna have to expose themselves. Everybody, everybody you see you talk to, anybody that ever did you wrong, they did something first that was small, that you was like, I'ma let that slide. Or I'ma forgive you for that. And then they did something the second time that was like, you gonna see it. So for me, I just watch people very much closely, you know, seeing how they move. And a lot of people, I was, before I was in the light, I was around. Before my time came to show, you know, and things like that, I was around. So I saw how people treated me before. I was able to assess everything. I'm like, I saw how you was quick with me, I saw how you, you know, I was good. You ain't want conversation, I saw it show came, how much conversation you want now.

• 44:08Speaker 02

  I'm not, you know, but I played the game. What's good with you, yeah, how you feeling? Yeah, boom, boom, boom, boom. Yeah, bro, we should, we should, we should, oh, okay, maybe talk about it. Keep pushing, you know what I'm saying? Cause I'm knowing what's serving, I'm knowing what's genuine. I'm knowing people that I met before that showed me mad love when they didn't know what I did. They were just cool, genuine people. They've always been the same, even before and after, you know what I'm saying? They supported just who I was as a person before they found out who I was as an actor, you know? And so again, it's, you, you just see it, man, you feel it. And I, I have a strong discernment about me, I can feel your energy from the moment I meet you. I can see how you move, I look at the people around you, I look at how you talk to other people around you, I watch it all. How do you treat the people that you close with, you know?

• 44:52Speaker 02

  That's a telltale, you know, about anything. And again, even with you at the game, you just, you walking over saying, what's up? I'm like, oh, she a good dude.

• 44:59Speaker 01

  Appreciate it.

• 45:00Speaker 02

  I already felt that from you, man, but that was confirmation. Just how you came over, made your way through, just to say what's up. That showed a lot about your character and who you were, you know what I mean? And so it's just those things that you know, you know, you know who you are. So you know when you feel people that's very similar and kindred with that type of spirit, that type of love, where it's like just raw, authentic, genuine. And you can see who not, it shows so easily to me. I, I didn't begin, I grew up around so many people and God has prepared me so well that like it, nothing goes past me. I see it, I'm like, I let you rock, I let you live over there, but you not gonna live over here. You know what I'm saying? Not in my space, not, not with me. And I watch who I keep around me and who's, who you see around me, for sure.

• 45:41Speaker 04

  How was it working with the legends, the OGs, Debbie Allen, Kadeem Hardison and Jasmine Gatwick, they was so bad, boy. Come out broke your heart? Man, every time the episode went off, she break your heart. But no, like what's the, what's the best advice they, they gave you?

• 45:57Speaker 02

  Man, honestly, working with them is an honor, but just love, man. Like when I say Debbie, she's a legend the way she is because of who she is as a person. Debbie Allen, her heart is so genuine. Like she is such a love, just a bundle of love, that's what I say, like she, soon as you see you, hey, baby, touch your face, kiss you, make sure you good. Vices over to the crib, she can throw down, I don't know, Debbie can cook. Ma Di can cook and will make sure you good, like just check on you, like she's amazing. Same with, you know, Duro, Kadeem, Jasmine, Cree. We talk all the time, we get together, me and Duro, me, Duro, Kadeem and our mother cast made cheer.

• 46:41Speaker 02

  We all watch the finals together, every game, every game together, we got together, watch the finals. With, with Cree, we, we always talking over there, Cree house, kicking and, and chatting. And with Kadeem, just a lot of love and, and conversation. But the biggest thing what they told us was. Keep the unit together.

• 46:59Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 46:59Speaker 02

  Because as you see all these years later, they stayed so close and together. It was like, nobody knows what you're going through, but you are. And so stay close, stay tight knit, don't let anybody come in between and try to tear this. Because that's what people do. They, they try to divide and conquer, you know? And so just telling us to stay together and remember this, this, this core. And so that's what we do. We, we stay together, we kick it, no matter what city we're in. Because we two, two and two. So two of us in L.A., two of us in New York, two are in Atlanta. Anytime one of us is there, we link up, we rally. You know what I'm saying? We get together. Anytime us six is together, we chilling. It's hard to pull us apart. We on set, even when we leave, we leave together. We go together, we eat together, we at somebody's house together. Like, it's hard to pull us apart.

• 47:42Speaker 02

  And, and I'm just, again, blessed to have that type of relationship with people you work with. I know y'all know, because y'all super close, where it's just, it's like, man, it's, I'm, I'm working, but I'm having fun with my people. I feel like I'm with my cousins and them, and we just running around, you know? That's really the feeling I get, you know, was when I'm running around with them. It's like, I'm, I'm really, I feel like I'm with my cousins, like.

• 48:03Speaker 04

  Love that.

• 48:04Speaker 02

  Because we going through this together, and we can vent together, you know? If something going on, they call each other phone, like, really, it's a safe space. Nobody feel like, you know, it, it don't lead the group, or it don't lead that person you talking to. And so, man, just to have that is, is special, special. But it was a privilege, though.

• 48:18Speaker 01

  You got it, brother.

• 48:19Speaker 04

  Yeah. You telling about pivot 1.0?

• 48:21Speaker 01

  No, I'm saying, you got, you get to ask him.

• 48:23Speaker 04

  All right, I want you to tell him about pivot 1.0.

• 48:25Speaker 01

  No, he don't need to know about that. He don't even know what the first six months was like.

• 48:30Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 48:30Speaker 04

  Yeah, that's crazy. Uh, no, we always ask our, our guests, uh, what's their biggest pivot in life? That's the one moment you can look back on and say, because of this, I am who I am today.

• 48:40Speaker 02

  Man, that's beautiful. I would definitely say that time, that time. Man, I remember, I even tell you about the night. I remember when I was going through, when I was in my car and I was going through what I was going through, man. It was, it was one night in particular, though, where I think even when you going through and you been so tough, and I know y'all know it's me, and, you know, we, we take care of a lot of things, and, and your family and things like that, to where we, we always in the mindset, everything good, like, everything good, everything good, everything good. And everything is good, you know, God got it. But it's just one night, man, I just remember, I just, I just had all this emotion built up from everything. And like, I just, I just screamed and I cried, you know what I mean? And I had to let it out.

• 49:23Speaker 02

  But it was like this, I don't think it was the position I was in more so than like, God was, in that time, I was exposed of just a lot of, you know, decisions you may have made in the past, or things you may have done wrong. It was like I was releasing all that guilt in life, or all that, just everything off of me. I remember that moment of just like, getting it off of me in that time and releasing it. And from that moment forward, that's when the things started to change. So it was like, I had to go through that to, to also expose things about myself that I no longer was tied to, that I may have carried, or things that I may have, was still on, or a mindset I may have still had. And I just remember just releasing that and giving it to God and apologizing for just certain things.

• 50:08Speaker 02

  And I never done nothing super crazy, but just things that didn't sit right with me. Things I may have went against my cell phone, you know? I remember releasing that, man, and, and forgiving a lot of people, too. Because we can go through life and holding, holding grudges and things on people, and that's not healthy. That's not healthy for your health, or healthy as far as, you know, the man that you want to be. And the man I want to be is just somebody who just continues to ascend, somebody who does forgive and releases all that energy instead of holding that, or not messing with that, or having hate towards that. Like, I had to just really get rid of all that. And, um, from that moment, that was one big pivot for me, but the other one was my transition away from football.

• 50:48Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 50:48Speaker 02

  That was another big pivot in life, because it was something I literally had to go, yo.

• 50:54Speaker 01

  It's over.

• 50:55Speaker 02

  It's over. And you know that's hard, especially when I feel like I had more left and I hadn't been able to show. Because my position, again, I told you, I was, I was trying to do the best. I transferred to a new school my junior year. And then that, I go to a school that had like program, feeder program from middle school. So it's, it's dudes I'm way better than, like, way better than, but they playing, like. And now you in that position where you like, yo, like, um, unleash me, like, let me rock, like, you don't throw me the game, I got more, I got less touches, way more yards, way than pulling me, like. And in that time, I just felt like I can't show myself. Even when I got to college, like, my offers came from camps where I got to go off, and they like, hold on. Like, yo, you, I'm like, bro, I'm trying to tell you, I'm, I'm, let me rock, bro.

• 51:40Speaker 02

  And my homies knew, like, our homies in the league, they telling, like, nah, they'll tell you, like, I'm real life, like that. But I never got to show it. So even when I got to college, I'm facing injuries where I never got to show, like, who I am. Like, I'm like, bro, I'm really like that, but I feel like y'all don't know I'm like that, and that's really upsetting.

• 51:55Speaker 01

  I'm the only person that know I'm like that.

• 51:57Speaker 02

  I'm the only person that know I'm like that. Besides the people around me, like, my brothers and them, or like, guys I grew, like, guys I played ball with, they know, like, they'll say, like, nah, he was cold, like, cold. I was like that, because I'm talking, but I'm showing, I'm proving. I talk to get the best, I want your best, like, come, come line up right now.

• 52:13Speaker 04

  Right.

• 52:14Speaker 02

  We can do whatever you want to do. Like, I was like that, I'm the first on the field and the last on the field.

• 52:18Speaker 04

  Right.

• 52:18Speaker 02

  I know y'all not working harder than me, like, that's how I really stood on. So when it came to going against you, I know you not, you, you're not like that with me.

• 52:24Speaker 01

  You didn't prepare that way.

• 52:25Speaker 02

  You're not prepared.

• 52:26Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 52:26Speaker 02

  I'm going, I don't care who you are, that, that's what it is. Line it up, R.C.

• 52:32Speaker 02

  Respect and love to you, but I, I need that, like, you know what I'm saying? As a, as a man, though, you should feel like that, like, I don't care, you know? And so how it was, that's just the mentality I had, and I never feel like I got to show it. So to be able to say like, dang, you about to just walk away and not prove it? But again, that goes to show who you got to prove it to. And I had to really have a conversation with myself, am I doing this for me, or am I doing this to prove everybody else?

• 52:57Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 52:58Speaker 02

  You know? And, uh, it was that time where I was like, yo, I'mma go where my heart leading me. My heart is really telling me this, my life is telling me this, because every time I try to go back the ball, left sprain, hamstring, A.C. joint, I'm like, God is telling me it's time. Like, I want to run around my kids one day, you know what I'm saying? So it was that.

• 53:18Speaker 01

  Never let that happen in acting, are you?

• 53:20Speaker 02

  Nah, that ain't gonna never happen, man. It ain't gonna never happen. I could do this for the rest of my life, though.

• 53:25Speaker 01

  But you didn't put it, like, with football, where you felt it had something left?

• 53:28Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 53:28Speaker 01

  You talking about God, that might be God, like, now, you know what this feels like, thinking, thinking you left something on the table?

• 53:33Speaker 02

  Exactly, never. Oh, yeah, never, never. It would always get everything in me. And, uh, just the person I am, if I'mma do something, I'mma give it 110, you know? I don't care what it is, man, we can go out there and play pickleball, badminton, I don't even care, it's 110. You know what I mean? I'mma give it all I have, because I can't have what you just said happen to me again, where I feel like I left something. So it's just all about giving it, and, and football's different, but in this craft, anytime I get an opportunity, man, I don't care if it's an audition, I treat my auditions like I'm on set. And I took people by the time, they like, exactly. And people say, yo, like, I don't know, like, it's, I'm like, bro, I'm treating this like, I'm on, and I let it go. I have fun doing it. People be like, oh, I'm tired of auditioning, or I don't book this, I don't, but I'm like, bro, I have fun in my auditions.

• 54:16Speaker 02

  I had extras in my auditions, I, I do, because this is my work and this is my form, and I go above and beyond. You know, I go buy stuff for auditions, you know what I'm saying? Because I want the, you know what I mean? I really want to build whatever it is and have fun with what I'm doing. Because a lot of people lose the why. They start just doing it, and now they feel like obligated, or they feel trapped, but they don't remember why you started. And I remember why I started acting, was it was fun, you know what I mean? So keeping it, the main thing.

• 54:43Speaker 01

  Nah, I love that, man. I was so fired up, though, you hit me back and said you do this, take the time. I'm glad we're able to get it done. The cool part about this for me is, I know there's so much more for you to do that we'll sit down and have another conversation.

• 54:56Speaker 02

  Yes, sir.

• 54:57Speaker 01

  About where this career is taking you, but most importantly, where God is taking you because of that belief, man. You are a dope, dope young dude, bro, so I appreciate you, and I appreciate your time.

• 55:05Speaker 02

  Man, I appreciate y'all.

• 55:07Speaker 01

  Cocoa butter.

• 55:08Speaker 02

  Cocoa butter?

• 55:09Speaker 01

  Old women like cocoa butter.

• 55:14Speaker 02

  Bro, you stupid, dawg, you stupid.