Credit: Michael Muller/The CW
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Tichina Arnold feels like family. Her quick wit, tongue-and-cheek delivery and around-the-way-girl sensibility reminds you of a favorite sister, auntie or girlfriend. Just ask devotees who've been following her since her days on Martin as Pam, Martin Payne's nemesis, or those who know her better as Rochelle, the intimidaing, stern mother on the critically-acclaimed series, Everybody Hates Chris. Despite her nearly 25 years in the biz, the Queens, New York, native is still refreshingly approachable. Essence.com chatted with Arnold about her upcoming dramatic lead role, raising her daughter, and why she loves blog-surfing and looking like Boy George.
Essence.com: Congrats on your NAACP nomination! Clearly, everybody loves them some Ms. Arnold!
Tichina Arnold: (Laughs) Thank you! We have a good show and a good group of people and I think that translates to every race, gender and religious background. Everyone can relate to the show on some level.
Essence.com: Well, how much are you in tune with your on-screen alter ego, Rochelle?
T.C.: Rochelle's my grandmother, mother and aunt all rolled into one, so I relate to her in so many ways. She's independent, stubborn and yet, through all of that, she still loves and cares for her family in her own special way.
Essence.com: What do you love most about the show?
T.C.: I have fun with the crew. Me and Terry crack on each other all day and the crew is our live audience. We always try to keep them laughing.
Essence.com: Well, your co-star Terry Crews says you know everyone and someone is always visiting you on the set.
T.C.: (Laughs) I've been acting since I was 11 and I guess I don't realize how many folks I know until someone else points it out.
Essence.com: And you've been about your business. Word on the street is you landed a dramatic leading role. Tell me about it.
T.A.: For years people have told me I needed to play a dramatic role so I've been contemplating it and now it's come my way. It's an indie film called The Lena Baker Story. Ironically, I was asked to play her in a play, but I'd already accepted the film role. I play Lena Baker, a Black woman who ends up having an affair with her white boss, some might even say his sex slave. Their relationship is dysfunctional and ends in tragedy for both of them—Baker is executed after killing him and then pardoned 60 years later.They had a love/hate relationship: they were both alcoholics but came from two different places and somehow found each other. This character is going to represent so many women who are between a rock and a hard place. The issues she faces transcends race.
Essence.com: So was this role a taxing undertaking for you?
T.A.: Physically I was tired and emotionally just drained. I cried real tears because I wanted the role to be as realistic as possible. I also mastered a southern accent—there were a lot of new experiences for me and it pushed me as an actress.
Essence.com: We can't wait to see it. We talking about your acting chops, but let's talk a bit about your parenting skills. How has motherhood changed your thinking?
T.C.: You're right. It's so funny after having Alijah, who's 3 going on 30, I said to myself, I'm a grown-ass woman, I don't have time for any kind of foolishness, it's all about her and my career.
Essence.com: I hear you. So is Ms. Alijah growing to fast for you?
T.A.: Chile , she's into dancing and just joined Debbie Allen's Academy for dance and Debbie loves her. My daughter is definitely going to be in the arts and surpass anything I ever achieved.
Essence.com: Well, she sees mommy is doing her thing and she caught the bug early. Children will keep you cracking up by the things they come up with. What has Alijah done recently that had you kee-keeing?
T.A.: (Laughs) She asked me the other day, 'Mom can I say ass?' I'm like, 'No you can't, it's a bad word. 'Then she says, 'Well can I sing it?'. I'm like, 'No you can't sing it, hum it, think it or speak it.'
Essence.com: Children are sponges and pick up everything; that's why you have to almost monitor their exposure.
T.A.: Yes, it's true. It taught me that we're at that point in our relationship where she questions everything with 'Why?' so I have to tell her what our mothers told us, 'Because I said so!' Now, she goes around telling her little friends the same thing—if she says no to them and when they ask why, she says, 'Because I said so!'
Essence.com: There was a while after Martin that we didn't see or hear from you. Where were you?
T.A.: I wasn't working! There was a minute when I wasn't working. I'm going to call it a 10-year span where I didn't book any other show. I made guest appearance on One on One, Jamie Foxx, and quite a few other shows, but I never got steady work. But I was moving and working. I did a lot of theater, I was in the studio—I did a little bit of everything.
Essence.com: So do you still keep in touch with Martin Lawrence?
T.A.: Yes, I still keep in touch with Martin. I haven't talked to him for a minute. I talk to his family.
Essence.com: Your best friend Tisha Campbell Martin and her hubby Duane Martin said the beef they had long ago with Martin Lawrence was squashed. Did you ever feel trapped in the middle of that past drama?
T.A.: Honestly, Tisha and Martin never put me in it. They did a great job of leaving it amongst themselves. Although it broke up a family because the entire cast—we were all very close. It was something that happened and we dealt with it, but it's long been squashed.
Continue to the next page for more from Tichina »
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