with black shows once they get those hundred episodes they’re like cool we can sell it into syndication and we’re done like it’s not a situation like friends or something where they’ve got this train that they want to continue to keep investing in something you mentioned about sports um you said that uh something about being small in stature yeah so therefore maybe it may be limited to what sports or how involved you got with it let’s talk about that only from a reason of seeing you on camera it’s been used as
like some of your punch lines how has and if you want to be specific like how tall what what like have you always been kind of like the smartest I’ve always been I’ve always been this size maybe maybe smaller they’re like you know what I mean like I’ve always been little and so the funny thing is is like I don’t think of myself as small until I look around and see oh there’s people way bigger than you you know what I mean so I think I have like I I have a big heart and I move like a dude that’s that’s bigger than he is
just in relation to the rest of the world I’m a little dude and so I think that one of the first rules of Comedy is you have to talk about the real you know what I mean like you have to approach it from a very real place and if you don’t do that then you’re you’re not you’re not doing the thing you know what I mean so it would be weird for me to not acknowledge my size at all you know what I mean like it just wouldn’t make sense it’s like psyche a little bit yes yes like and you know all my life experiences are based on how
people perceive me based on my size you know when we were going to clubs back in the day the bouncer would you know stop me first it’s like hey dude how come you got your hand in my chest and not the dude your size like he don’t want to fight with the dude his size he knows he can get away with doing that to me so so yeah that’s kind of where I I wanted to kind of walk through like the misconceptions because one is a level of you know people think that okay I can kind of punk this guy around right then there’s a reality of this is a black man
who um as we’ll find out has a family and children that is a protector a provider so but not only not only that dude I I’m the oldest of seven you know what I mean like I’m the oldest and when you’re the oldest you gotta look out for everybody under you you know what I mean like I was I was the cheap babysitter you know what I mean and the caretaker and the you know like in some cases I was the leader you know what I’m saying so it’s like it’s really funny like on Jamie Foxx like I played a dude named Mouse you know what I mean and you know
when I see people and people see me they go uh Mouse like is it okay if I call you that I’m like yeah absolutely you know what I mean like that’s how you know me and I think that with that character specifically I think that character resonates with people people actually feel a connection to that dude because they understand what that is you know what his obstacles are you know what I mean like he’s a little dude trying to make people realize he’s bigger than he is like that’s a natural conflict that we all
get mm-hmm yeah I love to um be able to dissect the character more because it is one of those classic characters um you were in 25 episodes as a character of The Jamie Foxx Show however in my mind it made me feel like he was like right there part of the cast like anyone else yeah that that I mean that’s the beautiful thing about that show and that experience like I actually I did one episode season three where I played a different character right and so I did that and I thought okay cool I guest starred on The Jamie Foxx show you know
Jamie and I were friends we met in the comedy clubs back when we were both first starting um I think he saw don’t be a menace and you know liked what I did with Crazy Legs and so you know I don’t even think I I don’t even think I auditioned for that guest star part I think it was just offered to me right so I came in I knocked it out and I was like okay cool I I did episode of The Jamie Foxx Show season four they brought myself Chris Spencer Alex Thomason because they wanted to give Jamie friends and we all worked at Jingles 2000 and you know
Chris and I went to college together Alex and I knew each other from the clubs uh my ex managed Alex so we were family you know what I mean so I think that when the three of us you know first appeared on that show we got 20 years of History you know what I mean from being in the clubs making each other laugh after shows like so we had this we we were already up and running so everything felt very familiar and we were still hungry you know what I mean so so since we’re here who came up with mouse like did you decide to just lean
into it when we talk about stature and size and said well you know like they you know that part was was offered to me and you know like I’m I’m an actor I’m gonna you know I go okay this is what you’re playing find a way to really play it you know I’m gonna use real parts of myself but I love that character because that character is more naive than I am in real life so I can play that naiveness you know what I mean like I felt like that character worked on that show because Jamie’s super cool you know what I mean
like Jamie’s just fully formed dude that it’s the Jamie Foxx Show and he’s Jamie Jamie Foxx you know what I mean Mouse is a dude that wants to be like Jamie Foxx on his best day but that’s never going to happen you know what I mean so it was like it was fun to play that like I was playing a dude that so looked up to Jamie that he’s trying to you know I didn’t even know how to date on that show you know what I mean like you know so there was so much fun like I really Drew on my college experience for mouse like I like the dude I was in college
was very similar to who Mouse is except I maybe had a little more drive you know what I mean yep now that particular role which was Mouse it does kind of um I think like any actor you have to be mindful was this one of your first roll early Rolls by the way no not it wasn’t it wasn’t one of my first roles like I I guest starred on you know a bunch of other shows prior to that I guess starred on Married with Children that was one of my first like guest starring roles I played this dude I’m married with Children who worked at
this record store called final vinyl and he all you had to do was walk into the store and hum a song and my character knew exactly what it was so Al Bundy came into the store because he couldn’t get this song out of his head and hummed it and I knew exactly what it was so that was like one of my first roles um prior to the Jamie Foxx show I was in What’s Love Got to Do With It I played one of the kids I played Craig Turner in that but that wasn’t a comedy that was a drama and I think I only had like a couple lines in the movie
the reason why um go ahead I’m sorry but yeah but so I think mouse was like one of the first things after don’t be a menace where I got to be a a fully formed character you know what I mean yeah the reason why I mentioned that is because I think like any actor you have to think about typecasting oh absolutely and I um did an interview with your um Jamie Foxx co-star Christopher B Duncan yes who in the previous clip um are part of our conversation mentioned the hurt he felt when it came to the industry and how they saw him
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meaning they only saw him as Braxton when he goes to auditions yes do you have any similar trajectory well he’s like I think Christopher B Duncan is a great example of a trained actor that was so good at that role that’s all you saw him as you know what I mean I think my character in relation to the Jamie Foxx Show like I came on board later and I think I I didn’t want to I didn’t want to be so much of a character that that happened to me and I really tried to play the nuances of that character so he felt more real
you know what I mean like and don’t and don’t get me wrong like I think Chris Reed Christopher B Duncan is an amazing actor you know what I mean and it was so cool to be able to hop on a show that already had its legs and then just add to it but I was I was mindful of that like I think every job you get in Hollywood you want it to lead to other opportunities like that’s a lot of what the business is about that a lot of people won’t tell you you know what I mean like you’re getting a chance to step up to the plate
and you want to hit a grand slam so it leads to other times that you can step up to the plate got you so in in conclusion with that particular role are there any regrets or do you think um if people calling you Mouse in person to this day is not an issue no that doesn’t no I don’t feel bad about that at all like I don’t feel bad about that at all uh my only regret is that I started playing that character in the fourth season so we went you know I did half the episodes of the fourth season and then all the episodes of the
fifth season and after we got our 100th episode the show was done so I felt like when it was ending I was just starting to get rolling you know what I mean so that was my only regret was that oh it’s over you know yeah when um when the show did end was it abrupt for you did you know the back story and why they weren’t going to continue with the show well you know if you work in this business you understand the business part of it and unfortunately with black shows once they get those hundred episodes they’re like cool we can sell it into
syndication and we’re done like it’s not a situation like friends or something where they’ve got this train that they want to continue to keep investing in so that was that was unfortunate you know what I mean like we had we we had a great Rhythm like we were we were we were really like cooking you know what I mean like and there was so much good that came from that show like you know I mean Sherry Shepard played my girlfriend you know what I mean like look at where she is now you know garcelle is fancy look at where she is
now you know uh Christopher B Duncan you know Chris Spencer Alex Thomas uh you know everybody on that show Garrett Morris you know Garrett Morris Smith was on there too yes exactly you know uh like there’s there was so much good and we had you know we were like I I’ll tell you this about the show um when I when I first got hired I knew that show was going to be around forever because I knew what Jamie’s Talent level was I knew where he was going in the business so every time every episode I was like we’re making
legendary TV
