美国国家公共电台 NPR Jenifer Lewis Of 'Black-ish' Reflects On Her Role As Black Hollywood's Mother

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

Some artists are larger than life, and some are even bigger still. Actress, singer and comedian¹ Jennifer Lewis stars in the hit ABC show, "Blackish," as the irascible and hilarious² grandmother, Ruby³ Johnson. Jennifer's career spans decades in film, television and theatre. She's worked with the biggest names in Hollywood and on Broadway. And along the way, she has become one. Jennifer has written a new book called "The Mother Of Black Hollywood." It comes out next week. And Jennifer joins us from NPR West in Culver City. Jennifer, thanks for being with us.

JENNIFER LEWIS: It's my pleasure, Noel. Thank you.

KING: So you have had one heck of a life.

LEWIS: Girl, I have lived. That's all I can tell you. It really has been an amazing life. You know, I started in a poverty-stricken area on the outskirts⁴ of St. Louis, Mo., in a small town called Kinloch. And I sang my first solo in church, and I - the reaction of the congregation - you know, I just stood there with my thumb in my mouth thinking, wow, this is life. And I haven't looked back since.

KING: Even in your early days, you had something propelling you. You write that when you graduated from college in Missouri, you set your sights on New York like a lot of young actresses. And I feel like I've heard a lot of these stories, and they usually involve someone showing up on a Greyhound bus with $3 in her pocket. You didn't do that. You booked yourself a first-class airline flight (laughter).

LEWIS: I had taken a few trips to New York while in college to visit my boyfriend. And when I said, OK, I'm leaving for New York, I was like, you know what? I think I'm going to go first class. And I didn't - you know, I didn't have a pot to piss in. But I got up there because I felt that's where I belonged. And I landed in New York with 10,000 songs in my heart. And I wanted to sing every one of them.

KING: And you were a complete unknown, but you made it to Broadway relatively⁵ quickly.

LEWIS: Eleven days, Noel.

KING: Eleven - (laughter).

LEWIS: Eleven - I tell you I called my mother a week before, and I was sobbing⁶. I was like, mama, this city is so big, and everybody wants to be a star. I'm going to come home. It's too hard. Eleven days later, I was, like, oh, come on, [expletive], let's go.

KING: How'd you pull that off?

LEWIS: Well, I auditioned⁸ with an Ethel Merman song because, you know, I have one of these big voices. And when I sang at the audition⁷, I did a back bend and held the last note - you know, (singing) for me and for you. And I just kept - (singing) you - kept going back - (singing) you - kept going back - (singing) you. And the piano player was, like, oh, my God, when is she going to end this song?

But I was a meteorite⁹ when I hit New York. I had no fear in me because the dream was so embedded¹⁰. And I'm not going to lie to you. I had been gifted at birth, girl. I knew what I wanted to do. It was simple as that. And I'm one of the lucky ones. Don't think I take this for granted. I'm one of the lucky ones to have known what I wanted so young, you know.

KING: To have known what you wanted and then gone for it and then succeeded at it. And it makes it almost - the way we're talking - it makes it almost sound easy. But in the book, you also talk about your early years in musical theater on Broadway and off-Broadway...

LEWIS: Absolutely.

KING: ...And they weren't all easy.

LEWIS: No, they - it was not easy. I was bipolar and did not know it. I looked at my shrink. I was like, are you insane? You know - what? - do you people got a name for it? I've been like this all my life.

KING: You thought it was just part of being an actress?

LEWIS: Absolutely. And so many artists hide that mental illness in performing, and we're applauded for that kind of energy.

KING: Tell me the story of how you got your diagnosis¹¹.

LEWIS: Well, my first session, Noel, I promise you, I did a headstand. I sat on the back of the sofa. And I was like, listen, I want to talk about my career. You know, I didn't want to talk about my father dying. I didn't want to talk about the AIDS epidemic¹². I didn't want to talk about my abusive childhood. I wanted to talk about my career.

KING: Not the things that were really hurting you.

LEWIS: Absolutely. Absolutely. So when she said depression, now, I understood that because I pretty much cried myself to sleep, you know, most of my life. So I just figured everybody cried. I didn't think they cried as much as I did. But, you know, what's wrong with crying? But when she started talking about mania¹³, I was like, well, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. I'm an actress. But it fit every aspect of my being - everything she described. So I could not deny it, and I didn't.

KING: And then in the '90s, when you start to get help, something interesting happens. You write in your book that at the same time you're going through therapy, you're confronting your demons¹⁴, you get a foot in the door in Hollywood. You start appearing in movies like "The Preacher's Wife" and "Poetic¹⁵ Justice."

You've had an extraordinary career thus far. You are currently starring in one of the biggest hit shows on television, "Blackish." That show is so funny and so irreverent and so biting, and it's attracted such a following. When you took that role, did you know this show was going to work as well as it does? And what do you think it is that actually makes it work so well?

LEWIS: You know, when they called me, you know, I think I was in Athens somewhere on a yacht, you know. And they said it's a show called "Blackish." I said "Blackish?" And they said, well, yeah, they want you to come back to the states. And I said, well, "Blackish" better have some greenish (laughter). The show, itself - what a cherry on the top of my career. I am so proud of the show because, you know, there's so much trash on TV. Let's face it. But "Blackish" is tackling all of those - these modern-day issues. And the writing is amazing. That first - the season opener, the subject matter was Juneteenth.

KING: Yes, there's an episode about Juneteenth, the day in which the slaves were freed and how we don't acknowledge that in this country, most often. You guys talked about reparations. You talked about postpartum depression.

LEWIS: Absolutely, the n-word. They have addressed police brutality¹⁶.

KING: And always with humor - always with honor.

LEWIS: Oh, my God. Listen. When you sit in front of your television and watch "Blackish," when you get to the dinner table, I assure you nobody's going to be silent. They're going to discuss these issues. We're doing something great with this show. And I am amazed to be a part of it.

KING: The title of your book is "The Mother Of Black Hollywood." Of all the things you could have called your memoir¹⁷, why that?

LEWIS: Well, because I am (laughter). You know, I played Tupac's momma, Tina Turner's momma, Whitney Houston's Momma, and the list goes on and on. And if I - Gabrielle Union's mother-in-law. And the movie, "What's Love Got To Do With It" started my career as a mother. And, you know, like I say in the book, for that kind of money, I'll play the daddy. Hey, you know. But here's the thing, Noel. I did become a mother, and my daughter is sitting right here next to me. Her name is Charmaine. When I entered therapy, a group of African-American women suggested to me - they were very close to me. We were called the boat. It was just the little club where we would all come together and talk about our feelings, and their children and their professions. And they all suggested - plus my therapist - that I go and mentor¹⁸ a child.

And I joined the Big Sister Big Brother program. And I got this little girl. She was 7-years-old, and she was under a desk when I walked into the YMCA to meet her. And I kind of wanted to just climb under there with her. But I had done enough work in therapy to reach my hand out to her. And she came out from under the desk. And I have loved her. I was a Big Sister for five years. And then, when she turned 12, I believe, her mother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. So I looked at her. I said, I don't know anything about being a mother, baby. But, you know, I have the finances to give you the best education. And it's one thing - if I don't know anything else, I know that I love you. So come on, and I'll do my best. And we must have been - we must've done pretty damn good because she's sitting next to me right now. But it wasn't easy. It wasn't easy.

KING: Jennifer Lewis - her autobiography¹⁹, "The Mother Of Black Hollywood," comes out next week. Jennifer, thank you so much.

LEWIS: Thank you, Noel.

1 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

2 hilarious   

adj.充满笑声的，欢闹的；[反]depressed

参考例句：

• The party got quite hilarious after they brought more wine.在他们又拿来更多的酒之后，派对变得更加热闹起来。
• We stop laughing because the show was so hilarious.我们笑个不停，因为那个节目太搞笑了。

3 ruby   

n.红宝石，红宝石色

参考例句：

• She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
• On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。

4 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

5 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

6 sobbing   

<主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的

参考例句：

• I heard a child sobbing loudly. 我听见有个孩子在呜呜地哭。
• Her eyes were red with recent sobbing. 她的眼睛因刚哭过而发红。

7 audition   

n.(对志愿艺人等的)面试(指试读、试唱等)

参考例句：

• I'm going to the audition but I don't expect I'll get a part.我去试音，可并不指望会给我个角色演出。
• At first,they said he was too young,but later they called him for an audition.起初，他们说他太小，但后来他们叫他去试听。

8 auditioned   

vi.试听（audition的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• None of the actresses we have auditioned is suitable. 我们试听的这些女演员都不合适。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• What is that, from some script you auditioned for in the '40s? 什么玩意儿是你40年代试的那些剧本吗？ 来自电影对白

9 meteorite   

n.陨石；流星

参考例句：

• The meteorite in Jilin Exhibition Hall is believed to be the largest in the world.吉林展览馆的陨石被认为是世界上最大的。
• The famous Murchison meteorite smashed into the Australian ground in 1969.1969年著名的默奇森陨石轰然坠落在澳大利亚。

10 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

11 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

12 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

13 mania   

n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好

参考例句：

• Football mania is sweeping the country.足球热正风靡全国。
• Collecting small items can easily become a mania.收藏零星物品往往容易变成一种癖好。

14 demons   

n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念

参考例句：

• demons torturing the sinners in Hell 地狱里折磨罪人的魔鬼
• He is plagued by demons which go back to his traumatic childhood. 他为心魔所困扰，那可追溯至他饱受创伤的童年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

16 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

17 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

18 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

19 autobiography   

n.自传

参考例句：

• He published his autobiography last autumn.他去年秋天出版了自己的自传。
• His life story is recounted in two fascinating volumes of autobiography.这两卷引人入胜的自传小说详述了他的生平。