Sanya On-Air

Unmasking Hollywood: An Intimate Conversation with a Tyler Perry's 'Sisters' Star

• Sanya Hudson • Season 13 • Episode 3

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Picture this: You're sat across from a renowned actress, peeling back the layers of Hollywood glamour to reveal the raw and real experiences of navigating fame. She's captivating, unapologetically authentic, and ready to share her truth. Join us for an intimate conversation with a star from Tyler Perry's hit series 'Sisters', as she delves into her life, career, and the trials and triumphs that come with being a black woman in an unforgiving industry.

Approaching the big 40, she dissects the challenging dance of masculinity and femininity while colorfully navigating life both inside and outside the lines. As she reflects on her iconic character 'Sabrina', a thought-provoking discussion unravels about her personal dating experiences and the quest to understand preferences and limitations. The courage doesn't stop there. Ever wondered about the sacrifices celebrities make and the regrets they harbor? Our guest bares it all, divulging on her career decisions, the sacrifices made for love, and the journey to find a community that feels like home.

In the midst of the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, the fight for representation and diversity is an ongoing battle. We touch on the need for empowering narratives for black women, as our guest shares her desire for more diverse roles. The conversation takes an exciting turn as she offers a sneak peek into character development on the upcoming season of 'Sabrina'. Wrapping up on a powerful note, we explore the nuances of being a black woman in Hollywood - the lack of representation, the importance of self-love and resilience, and the collective yearning for empowering stories. Tune in, and let's talk about the hard truths, the aspiration for change, and everything in between.

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sanya:

Hi, hi, novi, how are?

novi:

you, I'm good. How are you today?

sanya:

I'm blessed. I see you're busy booked and busy Just traveling. Looking at you in the car.

novi:

You know, ma'am, I got a flight in the morning and there's just so many things to do, but I said I'm not busy in this interview at all.

sanya:

I appreciate you so much, so let's just jump right into it. You know, I'm still kind of on a high. I just celebrated my 50th birthday. Happy birthday, yeah, I got the good one. Yes, you do, but if my research serves me correctly, you are approaching a birthday in November. Is that correct? Yes, and you are approaching your 40s. I know that you have a few more years to go, but I know that with every decade it brings on a new sense of awareness. As you approach your 40s, what are you questioning about yourself?

novi:

Oh, that is a great question. Happy birthday, by the way. I hope it was amazing. It's amazing. One of my questions where do I really want to be One? Not even not spiritually, because I feel as if I'm on that journey already. That's happening for me, but physically, you know. But I feel like a lot of our time is spent. Okay, let me write college. So we go to a college, to a different state, but maybe we don't really like the state, you know, or maybe we don't really like the city. We do a lot for our career, moving to a certain place just for our career. I moved to Los Angeles for my career, you know, but I don't see myself living here for the rest of my life. So in my 40s I really want to be happy physically where I'm at, like my home, my furniture that sounds like real grown stuff, but that's what I'm looking forward to, like building a house and just having a space where I really really feel at home and I'm off that hustle mentality, you know. Survival.

sanya:

Got it, got it, and you know. I will also read somewhere, and I quote, where you said that you're ready to enter into the world that people created with your own paintbrush. Are you the type of individual who likes to paint outside of the box or inside of the line?

novi:

Both. I think there's room for both, and I think it depends on which situation that you're in. But I already know, just being a woman, I'm already automatically coloring out of the line. Being a black woman, that's doubly so, and then, of course, navigating it. I think just by trying to do that, we color inside the line. So there needs to be a nice blend of both, and that's what makes it so creative, artistic and unique.

sanya:

Do you find it troubling to your soul when you have to navigate between the two coloring inside of the lines and coloring outside? Because I know for me it can be kind of troubling.

novi:

Oh yeah, absolutely, Especially when it's like something racist or sexist. You're just in there, really Like we're still doing this. This is so boring, you know what I mean. So, absolutely when it comes to those things. And then I just try to always think about the bigger picture, you know, and why. This is a battle that universe, god, whatever you believe in has put forth for us, you know, and I really just try to adhere to that. But yeah, sometimes it gets super frustrating.

sanya:

Yes, super, super frustrating. But you know I want to jump into your character, sabrina, on Tyler Perry's hit series Sisters. I'm telling you I've been tuned in since season one, faithfully. I love the show. But let me tell you something about what an actor does, which I know is successful. When a character can really make you question your life, that's when you know that that character has got it right. And let me tell you what you did. You questioned how I view masculinity. So my question for you is, as you were exploring and unpacking the character of Sabrina, what triggers did you learn about masculinity and made you question is this right?

novi:

Oh, my gosh.

novi:

Oh my gosh, that is still an ongoing conversation, because me and my partner talk about that all the time. You know, scientifically there's only 10% difference between a man and a woman, right, and everybody knows that we are born as a. The fetus is female. We all know that. However, there's some inherent differences, right? And so I think, as women, especially black women we don't have the privilege of experiencing our men in a lot of different ways. We don't, and so we don't understand the levels and the depths that a spirit can go to.

novi:

But I'm so glad you said that, because I really feel as if that's exactly what it's about. It's about and, of course, I know people have their, their quote unquote limits and their preferences, as you should and you can it's your life do what you want. However, you don't, especially when it comes to dating. You don't really know what you like until you're in the middle of it. You don't know what I'm saying, you really don't know, because you might have been conditioned to think okay, this is the way that I think that I enjoy intimacy or sex, or another person Then comes to find out. This other person just touches your soul in a different way. You know what I'm saying and that's what I think is so interesting. And I dated someone just like Calvin, really, surely did, surely did, surely did Wait wait before you were the cat.

novi:

Sabrina. Really, I was Sabrina because I was going through a time in my life where you know, when you're younger, you date for very vain reasons. You date for aesthetics. Oh, he's six feet tall, he's this, he's that. This is why I should be dating him. He looks good on paper. That's the conversation we always have amongst our girlfriends.

novi:

But that's not what love is about. Love is a soul thing, you know. That's why it's unexplainable. That's why you know you can't, you shouldn't have hatred for LGBTQ community, because that is unexplainable. It is literally two energies meeting each other, recognizing each other's souls, you know. And so when it comes to that, I remember I was like, okay, let me start dating outside of what. I conditioned myself that I need to be dating, let me open her up a little bit. You know what I'm saying. Let me get started.

novi:

So I started dating older men because I didn't, I wasn't really into older men. I dated a guy who was like 50 something plus. You know, I've dated. I started dating somebody who had a kid, because that was not on my radar either. I dated someone who did something completely separate outside of my field.

novi:

Now, profession wasn't that important to me, but it was something that I. I was just like, okay, let me get a completely different person, you know whether they be in tech or in medical fields. And so I dated this guy and he looked like a football player y'all Like he looks, the body was bodying, it was giving all the packs Right Black, young. But when he spoke, there were energies there that I wasn't used to seeing in what I have been conditioned to think a heterosexual man should look and present life Right. And we had a. You know, we dated for a little bit and it was cute, I liked him and he was really sweet and he was really nice guy. However, there were moments where I said, well damn, if we're together in public, are they gonna be like that's your boyfriend, or is it?

novi:

No right, what are they gonna say? So, absolutely, and I don't have the answers. This is I'm not. I don't have none of the answers. All I'm saying is that I put myself in a position to be surprised. Right, and I was pleasantly surprised. I had a good time. It wasn't, I didn't have a bad taste in my mouth, and it just really opened me up and I said you know what?

novi:

You need to stop being so small minded when it comes to dating, you need to open it up, and I really hope that's what the Calvin Sabrina storyline is showing people.

sanya:

Yeah, he looked him open minded, it did. It made me get on the phone and ask a guy, you know, would you kiss a guy on the lip? I really did ask this guy this question and when I tell you he is heterosexual, like the definition, you open up the dictionary. And he, like this, smoking a new pour. You're right, it was one of those. And he told me, yeah, I would, you know, give my male best friend a kiss on the cheek. And I said, really, yes, made us have this conversation about okay, this is what I knew to be true, but life is showing me something different. I have to open myself. So thank you, novi, for having me open up. You know, that's exciting.

novi:

You're really yeah, and even just having that's what art is supposed to do. Art is social commentary and it's supposed to be a dialogue. It's supposed to be a conversation starter. That's why we display it, and I love playing somebody like Sabrina. She's in the place of I don't know what I like right now, and that's completely okay.

novi:

You know, what I'm saying. Why does every black woman need to know what she wants? What she wants, I don't know what I want. I'm vulnerable. I'm open. That surprised me. You know what I'm saying, and so and I always respect Anthony for playing the hell out of that role. You know what I mean. I really think it takes a lot of courage to play a role of that nature where it is such a blurred line. So yeah, it's awesome.

sanya:

Yeah, anthony was on my show a few months ago and I was just so enamored and even my audience when they found out that he's married, you know, so they didn't even know that oh yes.

sanya:

So you two have done an amazing job of just convincing us and making us join in your superficial world, because we are believers. We really are. But you mentioned, you know, women. We have to be vulnerable, we have to be open to new things, and I know that, being a successful woman like yourself, you also have to be courageous and fearless and you have to put your ego to the side. What was the biggest sacrifice you made for acting, and you regretted it.

novi:

Oh wow, oh yeah, okay. So not for act. I don't think I didn't do it for acting. No, maybe I didn't, Maybe I did. I'm thinking, hold on, that's a good question. Do I regret anything? Maybe I don't know right now, maybe when I'm 60 or 70, I'll know.

sanya:

Got it.

novi:

But I can really say for me personally I've gotten to travel so much. I've gotten to do a lot of things. I got to go to my prom. You know, that's one thing that I'm grateful about not being a child actor, successful child actor, it's like at least I got to do all those normal things. I went to college, I got my degree in theater. So I still accomplish all those things. Maybe the number one thing would be not finding my community sooner, the people that I've now, because I have friends that do a bunch of different things, which is really good. You need friends who are not all up in your field, you know anyway.

novi:

But I really wish I would have established some sort of community a little bit earlier in my life, because I find that I'm doing a lot of things alone, you know, and it can be really, really hard because you don't have a lot of people to lean on for certain pieces of advice, especially when it comes to business matters and taxes, or when it comes to making a film or stuff like that. So that's probably it. So go find your community as soon as you possibly can. Build those friendships, because they're important.

sanya:

Yes, I'm glad that you mentioned that because I didn't get that lesson until, I believe, when I started 40 and just really finding my village, my thought partners, because it is very lonely. But I also have to remind myself that eagles, you know they don't soar with pigeons, so you know you up there, you know elevating, and it will be lonely sometimes, but there's going to be another eagle that's going to fly by eventually. But when we talked about the sacrifice that you made for acting I know that you're in a relationship what's the biggest sacrifice that you've made for love?

novi:

Oh my God, patience, baby, oh yeah.

novi:

If anything, if anything. Acting has given me the patience to deal with other people, because, you know, it's taken me so long to get here and this is this is taking me 13, 14 years to get to this place right now, a couple of years on top of that, but patience, because all those knows dealing with rejection, learning how to deal with that, has taught me how to deal with rejection in relationships. Because my partner just said to me and this is, and this is why I love my partner so much, because it's honesty I had said something. I said I'm sorry, boo, but I'm trying my best. You know, I'm trying to do this, that and the third. And he's like, of course he's like I love you.

novi:

Sometimes your best won't be enough, and that's real. That is a real thing because we're we're thinking that we're always going to be the best and do this and do that, and that's just not the truth and that's also relevant in life. Sometimes I'm showing up right now. Of course I want to do my interview in my house, at peace, and maybe it's not my best right, but hopefully this will be enough.

novi:

A little bit somehow, some way and so, and so I really had to be patient with not not even him, but myself. I had to learn how to be patient with me, and that's what I love about having a relationship like that, because I'm not here to be performative, I'm not here to make you happy all the time, but sometimes you know what we're not satisfied and we are taught that we could satisfy somebody else in the relationship, and that's just not the truth. That's just not how relationships work. Right, you know, it's about people coming hold themselves and then coming to meet the other person.

novi:

So patience, patience with myself, because I beat myself up a lot Like, oh, you're not doing this, this is not professional love, you're not working hard enough, and so he's always a reminder for me that it's OK At the end of the day. It's OK if your best is not enough. I still love you, you are still worthy of being loved and being supported and being held, and so that's what I really enjoy about it. But patience is definitely the number one thing, because you be thinking things your way, they be thinking their way and you know, because you guys get along all the time, you think that you're supposed to be on the same wavelength at all times, but that's also not true. So it's just a lot, a lot of those little nuances which I'm grateful that we both have the courage to show up to do.

sanya:

Nice, nice. But you know, having the courage to stand up in your truth is so evident in the way that you carry yourself, and I know that it makes it easier as an actress working alongside Tyler Perry. So let's just assume that when you are off of a role where you have to, let's say, move weight or lighten your skin, how will you stand in your truth that way?

novi:

I'm not lighting my skin, that's number one. Ok, that's not happening. I'm going to choose to believe that every character will find me exactly and I will be perfect for that character at that moment. You know, I'm a thicker girl and the whole time I'm like I have to lose weight. I have to lose weight, I have to be skinny for TV, but then I end up on the show where we have all these different body types about what what women could look like, and I remember somebody in my family Saying oh, you know, you're gonna diet and lose weight, like for the next season. And I and I was like, why can't I just look the way I look right now, right now right and so that's what I hope.

novi:

Each character comes for me. The wake thing, it's not my jam, but if I'm gonna play an assassin or something and I get to throw the wig off and I got the cornrows underneath, yes, they're coming in. I'm doing all of that. But I want to play characters. Yes, I want to take people away. You know, I want to take, I want people to know and get to know me. No V as an individual and see, like, oh, this is her style, this is how she moved, this is her company that she keeps, whatever all those things. But when you see me transform into a character, you really see me transform. So but there's certain things losing weight and gaining weight. I don't have a big deal with that. I do that anyway. Right, as a way. It's always getting done so that I don't care. Lightning my skin Hell, no, you ain't gonna catch me doing that slave.

novi:

Oh fuck out of here. You ain't gonna catch me doing those ladies I can't like. This is not it's, I can't. My spirit it's agitated when I think about it, and then what? But when it comes to hair and like playing around with hair, yes, because I'm a black woman. Right what we do you got braced today? I know next month you won't have another hairstyle, so yeah.

sanya:

Tomorrow another. You know we love how, you know. There's the movies. Well, the sisters that you've been in the show. It really captures the essence of you being a strong black woman. We've seen sisters. We've seen other shows like living single and girlfriends. How would you like to see Hollywood unpack another story from a woman like? What story woman story Do you feel hasn't been told?

novi:

The one where she has no child and no husband and she just live in her damn life that would, and not chasing a man and not chasing no man. Yes, I think there's two generations. There's the, there's the, there's the 30s to 40, 45 that we don't really touch on, and Then the elder generation. I would love to see more shows. You know, white women have shows. I know it's harder, but why? Some white women have shows where they're older 50, 60 years old, where ours? You know where's our golden? Like I want my golden girls moment for us too. I want to see all my elders in in a sitcom together. So, yeah, I think there's so many more avenues for us to go down as black women, but definitely narratives.

novi:

It's hard to stay away from narratives around love. It's just really hard because that's what. That's what we humans love to do. We love to love. But I would just love to see that in between moment. Or, you know, girls night out, like where's our super bad right? Where's our rom-coms? Like I want to see more girls trip. That was so funny. Like I love that film.

novi:

I want to see us black women doing comedic things, but not being, not being buffoons and not making fun of ours. You know I'm saying and not being colorist like let's be smart, funny, intelligent, funny like like, show us different sides. So I want to see that. And Then I would love to see more content between Africans and African-Americans, the mashup of both worlds, and not not one trying to be the other, not, but literally the mashup of both worlds. And what that looks like, you know, like maybe it's a comedy, a romantic comedy, about an African-American student going to Africa and be an exchange student there, and then what that looks like and how that world, you know, she falls in love with African, and that could be part of the storyline too, you know. Or she just has, she makes friends in Africa and then later ends up working there. Or where's our e-pray love, right, like, where's our? I Gotta go find my soul searching moment. Like I want all of those. So there's just, there's so many stories for us.

sanya:

I know I want to see those stories too, because I want to see me in those stories. Like I told you at the onset of this conversation, I just turned 50 and when I look at the media space and how content is being produced, I don't see me, and I just want to make sure that I'm seeing me, because I'm seeing everything else. So I'm glad that you put that out there into the universe, because I know that it will manifest itself and someone will create it, if not you. I want to talk about Sabrina one more time. I know that you can't tell us you know what to expect in this upcoming season, but I do want to know will Sabrina lead with her heart or lead with her ego?

novi:

I Don't think Sabrina has a very strong ego, to be honest. You know she's very self-sacrificing and that's a narrative that a lot of us women hold on to. I hope that she strengthens her ego. I hope after this experience, you know her more. He's got arrested this last season, so hopefully this will be a transformative experience for her. More ease It'll probably bring them closer in friendship, as you know, those kind of moments do as well. We'll be able to see her resilience, hopefully through those moments. But I Hope that at this point she she starts listening to her intuition more, because she says she says the same things that Danny says she says the same thing. Yes, she just presents them a different way. That's why I think Sabrina and Danny be hanging out all the time. She's just a soft version, danny's the hard version. So yeah, I really hope that she. I hope this is a moment of strength for her, like building strength, as in trusting her own instincts.

sanya:

Got it. Got it and your upcoming work. You are in a thriller movie. You know what. Talk about that because you know we've seen you on Sisters in a Different Light. I want people to really understand that we are not a monolith that you can just get any role Because she got range.

novi:

I got range. Baby, I'm going to listen. I am on my way to becoming one of your favorite actors, like this is what I'm working towards. But yes, it's called Alone in the Dark. It's going to be on 2B. 2b is free, so go ahead and download it. It's a streaming service. It comes out October 7th that's a Friday and then Sisters comes out October 12th. I mean, like we can just have a no-be-league. Look at that, look at that, look at how God is moving. I'm super excited because it's essential.

novi:

This character's. Her name is Bree, which is funny. My daughter's name is Bree. The name keeps chasing me Sabrina Bree. Like if Bree not you know, like it keeps chasing me, but her name is Bree, she's married. She's married. Her husband did some shady stuff with the funds and now she's on house arrest, so it's giving.

novi:

I did my own stunts, 90% of them. My stunt double is the same as Angie LaPasse, so I'm like, yes, she's getting somewhere here in her career, so that's going to be really excited. I did it with 9th House Films, brant Daughtry, who was an actor on Pretty Little Liars. If you guys ever seen that, he's an actor on there. Him and his wife wrote it and then they just hired me to do it. I'm like, yes, so I'm going to be kicking some ass y'all, I'm going to be falling into things. There's blood, like things are happening.

novi:

And then I have another film that's out now. It's called Spider and that's an indie film that took us five years to make and it's basically Get Out Before Get Out, but a female version, and it's the narrative of what is beauty, especially to a black woman, because my character, roschanda she creates a love spell to change her into a white woman and, yes, baby, it's giving psychology. It's like I want to, I want to make people think, you know, when it comes to the characters I choose, I choose Spider. That's on 2B as well and on Zoom. And then I have another holiday film coming out in November. So I mean, you know, working, god went like this this year.

sanya:

God said there you go Because you've stepped into your superpowers. You are intentional with everything that you say and do, and also intentional about what you wear. I was going to talk about that, but you know we'll save that for another day. You'll be tuned into every single project that you are part of because you represent a woman of color with class, race and elegance. I salute you. My hat goes off to you. Continue Blessings, queen. I'll be tuned into everything that you do.

novi:

And I'll be here for you. I'm so glad that we met and happy, happy, happy, happy birthday to your brand new decade. I wish you blessings, health. I wish you love. I wish you many, many, many, many hugs and glow and money and success and comfort and massages and good dinners. I hope you have the best time. You are in your best years yet to come. Thank you again for your time.

sanya:

You take care. God bless, God bless, Bye, bye. Oh my gosh, that gave me everything that I needed. Oh my gosh. You know, whenever I have conversations with talent, that's on television, film, beauty, fashion, music. It is really a teachable moment for me. I just, like I said, I just want to unpack their pivotal moments and their milestones. And, like she said, like Novie said, she was dating the Calvin before she was hired for the role of Sabrina, to date Calvin who the actor who plays Calvin, is Anthony Dalton. I got to sign you in your interview because he was on the show talking about his character, Calvin, and the character of Sabrina, played by Novie Brown.

sanya:

Just the sacrifices that she had to make, what she will not do coloring outside of the lines, coloring inside the lines. As a black woman, we are often forced to navigate between so many different worlds and yet still do it gracefully and with a smile. So it can be very, very difficult. I love to see that she is a woman of color who is working. She listed so many projects in just what, like two months, two or three months. That tells you that Hollywood has created a lane. No, no, no I'm not even gonna give that to Hollywood that God has created a lane for her to graciously walk through and she's prepared herself, she's done the work so that when the opportunities present themselves, she is just able to walk right into her blessings. It was an amazing conversation. Like I said, this was long overdue. I've been trying to get her on the show for a month but busy booking schedules between the both of us. But we wanted to make sure that we booked her on the show before the new season of Sisters premiered on BET.

sanya:

Make sure that you check your local listings. It is written and produced everything by the amazing, super talented Tyler Perry. I really love this series. Like I told you one of the questions or talking points that I had with her, we've seen sisters, we've seen girlfriends, we've seen live and single. We've seen Harlem. If you haven't checked out Harlem, please do so. I also had an actor from that hit show on Signing on Air, and sisters is just reminding us that black women, the friendship amongst black women it's important.

sanya:

It's a narrative that we definitely need to see. There's a target audience for it. I wanna ask her about what she would like to see. I wanna see it too. I wanna see women of a particular age having sex, dating, exploring and navigating friendships, letting friendships go, because, darling who you were, who I was, if it is not who I was at 25, and some people just got to go, Some people just really have to go. So I enjoyed the conversation.

sanya:

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