Cool Interview with Actress Tasha Smith in that Magazine

Finally, something worth reading from the former bastion of profession black womanhood that was Essence ! I just found this wonderful interview with actress Tasha Smith. I adored her in Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls and she is one of the main reasons--besides all those yummy fine brothers in the movie--that I will be in the theater as soon as I can to see Why Did I Get Married? I liked her as an actress and now that I’ve found out more about her, I just love her! This interview should have been in the print magazine, not just on-line. I bet they’ll run an interview with Kim Porter and why she finally left Diddy--if they haven’t already--right in the magazine and not on-line. Oh well…

Here’s some of the interview:

Tasha Smith: Survival of the Fittest
Actress/activist and motivational speaker Tasha Smith talks about her latest film role and her real-life drama

By Kenya N. Byrd

Hollywood can be a fickle town when it comes to making or breaking talent, but some actors withstand the shuffle and show promise of longevity. Tasha Smith is that chick. Some might recall that the statuesque beauty once busted guts on the comedy strip in Los Angeles. Most will remember Smith as Jennifer, the vindictive ex-wife, in Daddy’s Little Girls or from her days as a crack addict on HBO’s Emmy Award-winning gritty street drama, The Corner ,. No matter where the Camden, New Jersey-born actress banks screen time, she is a bonafide scene-stealer. This month, Smith co-stars in Tyler Perry’s latest film Why Did I Get Married? as Angela, a feisty entrepreneur who is trying to mend her marriage during a weekend getaway with three other couples. Essence.com caught up with the fire starter to talk about the power of “ghetto” women, her past drug abuse and paying it forward.

Essence.com: In the film, your character Angela handles her business and husband. Her mama-don’t-take-no-mess attitude could be perceived as “ghetto.” Do you think real women who express themselves unapologetically are wrongfully deemed uneducated?

Tasha Smith: I don’t think it’s a lack of intelligence, but a lack of truth. People are so used to not being transparent with their feelings. Angela is smart, fearless and keeps it real because she’s not pretentious. It’s a shame that some people might identify that transparency as “urban” or “ghetto” because there are a lot of wonderful businesswomen who are truthful, transparent and confrontational. And I don’t mean “confrontational” in a negative way, but more like, ‘This is what this is, let’s deal with it.' Angela is our mother, our auntie, our neighbor and our mail lady. Trust me, there will be more women who identify with Angela than not.

Essence.com: So, would you recommend this film to women whose marriages are in crisis?

T.S.: A woman told me, ‘A group of my friends are going through some marital problems and we are going to see the film together.’ And I said, ‘No you need to go with your husbands to see the film. Don’t go with a bunch of chicks thinking that you’re going to get validated by your girls to give up on your marriage. Instead, go with your husbands and hope that something is going to be spoken that will make you guys say, `Hey baby, why did we get married? Let’s talk about that and the good things we have and how much we love each other so we can stop harping on everything that made us angry and unforgiving.’

Read the rest of the wonderful interview here:

Tasha Smith: Survival of the Fittest