Lynn Whitfield – Greenleaf

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) How was Lady Mae Greenleaf originally described to you?

A) That’s the thing, in the script she was described as the steely stern matriarch. I was kind of miffed by that because she had to be more complex than that. Just now, from the time you saw her with her father, to peel back the layers of the onion of who this lady is. Definitely, she is a take no prisoners kind of woman, but the thing is that if it were a man it would be perceived differently. I thought if she was from the South and all of that steely stern matriarch then she had to have layers. She had to have the veneer of grace and elegance. She had to go around the issue and circling back so it would be more manipulative and not always so stern. I just envisioned as the way it was described to me as someone with a center part, a tight bun and a long skirt and unattractive shoes. I was like, “No. I’m not feeling that. We can do something more colorful and interesting than that.” And everyone was in agreement. Slowly through the process of the season and a wonderful collaboration, we sort of built who this woman is. She is much more entertaining. She may say things that are stern, but they are quotable and laughable.

Q) Was there instant chemistry when you and Keith David began working together? He told me that you had previously worked together on a reading of The People of Clarendon County.

A) We did a reading in Chicago of a work that Ruby Dee and her husband had done. That was a few years before and little did we know that we would get the opportunity to build this classic, iconic couple that I think has a lot of charm and complexity. There is a grace about them. I look at it because once I’m not doing it and now I have some distance, I can look objectively at some of what other people are seeing. So, as an audience member I see this really charming couple – with issues of course. But you really get this feeling that they have lived a life together.

Q) Who would you most like to work with or work with more on “Greenleaf?”

A) I’d like to have some scenes with my granddaughters. We haven’t had any scenes together since the table scene. It would be great to have some scenes with them. I’d love to have more scene with Kerissa (Kim Hawthorne). I get to have scenes with Merle [Dandridge] a lot and Keith. I really would like to explore more of the relationship with Keith and myself – Lady Mae and Bishop – who they are when they are maybe not talking about problems. Of course, I’ve only had one scene with Oprah which hasn’t aired yet. I know we nailed that one. I’m looking forward to having more scenes with my siblings – Mac (Gregory Alan Williams), Mavis (Oprah Winfrey) and Mae. I think that would be really interesting because our family dynamic is obviously weighed down with forget baggage – like trunks! It’s trunks of history that we obviously have a lot of finger pointing about and a lot of bias towards each other. It would be really great to see the more mature cast members work out this family drama. I do think one of the reasons why the show has caught on fast is because we are dealing with family dynamics. Right now, it’s mostly been how the McCready clan (me and my siblings) are affecting the Greenleaf clan and the Greenleaf clan is my clan. It is what I have created – my family. But I think it would be great to go into what Mavis, Mac and Mae have going on because have The Bible quote: “the sins of the father fall onto the kids.” Generational kind of curses and stuff, which is Bible speak. So, I’d like to go back and look into what that would be.

Q) What have been some of your most memorable moments from behind the scenes?

A) You know what is so funny is that after the dinner scene, we’re hardly ever all together. Some of the fun of what we do takes place in the makeup trailer. Keith is also a singer so he will serenade us with music because he is putting together a one-man show about Nat King Cole and another one with Bill Withers music. So, we’re getting our hot curlers done and our lashes on and we’re being serenaded by the golden tones of Keith David. And he loves sharing it! I think it is part of his “rehearsal period.” He tries it out on us. The makeup trailer is like his on-the-road before you hit Broadway. We have become his try-out audience and the makeup trailer becomes his stage. We all love it because it loosens up the mornings for us.

Q) What do you think it is about “Greenleaf” that has made it a fast fan favorite program?

A) Like I said, I think lots of families go through things. It is iconic and classic in nature. All types of betrayal – family, inappropriate sexual behavior, infidelity, questioning one’s sexuality (as Tye White and his character) and what goes on in the dynamic of a marriage when one partner is questioning their sexuality. And that’s before someone has acted out. I think a lot of people ego through that. I think people love the legacy that is family going through something, having problems and what they navigate through. I think that has a lot to do with it. I think the kind of magnanimous entitlement of their lives – they live in this family compound and it is not like they are showing off their wealth or whatever. It’s that they really have become accustomed to a lifestyle that is extremely privileged and it is all in the patina, the grace, of the South. I think that appeals to people so that the compound, the mansion, becomes a character in this. It’s the character that everybody is trying to hold on to. It’s what they have acquired and that sense of entitlement of who should be on the pulpit. It’s all of these things that are so off the right path of what saving souls is all about and what any church should be about. All of those things I think come together. Not to mention the cast and the wonderful acting and writing we have. There are a lot of elements that make something signature that is new, that is fresh. One of the other things is how these people use language. It’s not very often that on Twitter people comment “this is the best writing ever,” where the writing becomes a star, too. Many elements have come together to make this special and thank God that Oprah, Craig [Wright] and Clement [Virgo] (who is on the ground every day with us, keeping our work clean) have been collaborative enough that we have come up with something that has a different thumbprint than anything else that we have seen on television. So, it takes lots of elements to make a work of art, as it would with a painting or artwork.

Q) What are the other recent projects that you have been working on?

A) Right now, there is an arc I have done on “Mistresses” that started last week. Rochelle [Aytes] is such a beautiful woman and a wonderful actress. We played together in Madea’s Family Reunion and now I am playing her mother who is challenged with alcoholism. She comes to visit and decides to stay because they have gotten her to go into rehab. They are the rehab actually because she refuses to go. We really have done some interesting work because alcoholism is also something that plagues so many people and families. Also, last week I contributed to “The Unsung,” on TV1 about Meagan Goode. It’s just so interesting that once you reach a certain age, it’s almost like there are no women who don’t become appendages as you reach a certain age. You avhe to be someone’s wife, mother or something. God forbid the grandmother word! So, I’ve had these amazing daughters in my career like Raven-Symone in Cheetah Girls, Jurnee Smollett and Meagan Good in Eve’s Bayou and Rochelle in Madea’s Family Reunion and now on “Mistresses.” They are all such fine actresses and I’m just really proud of that. I’m very proud of my TV daughters.

Q) What is a dream role you would like to take on?

A) I would love to do something with international intrigue. I see they are doing Ocean’s 8 with Rihanna and Sandra Bullock. I’d love to do something with action and heist themes. I’d love to get into some of the more salacious – the world of sex for hire is always so interesting and how those madams do their thing. I’d love to do sci-fi. It’s just so funny that often as an African American actress they just don’t see you in all of those genres like Susan Sarandon or Helen Mirren. One actress is more mature than I, but Judy Dench is always doing interesting stuff. There is a world of things to explore that I haven’t done and that’s what is so exciting about the art form of acting because for every decade or so there are different options of roles you can play. I would love to do a romantic comedy like Something Has Got to Give or even something that has to do with autumn love and stuff like that. There are always a million things to do. There are as many things to do as pictures to paint and photographs to take. There is always things to do. That’s the great thing about art, it is never like “Okay! I’ve done it all!” Maybe Meryl Streep can be able to say, “I’ve done every role there is to play,” but most actresses have so many more characters to play and so many more stories to tell.

Q) You frequently work with Tyler Perry. What makes working with him so appealing?

A) Actually, with me Tyler was an amazing collaborator because when we were going to do Madea’s Family Reunion we had a table read and I said to him, “Look, she’s not challenging enough yet or naughty enough yet.” I said, “We need to have a The Graduate moment in this.” He said, “The Graduate?” I said, “There is a moment where the mother of the bride feels she is sassy enough that she can seduce her future son-in-law.” So, I said there needed to be that kind of moment. He went away and looked up the film. He came back and said, “Yes! You’re right!” He wrote a scene and was able to fit it into the schedule because we were starting to shoot the next week. That was like the first scene I shot where I’m there with Blair Underwood saying like, “I’m all that.” It was one of the scenes that was very memorable for people in the film. There was that moment and then there was another moment in the movie where the daughters and the mom are having their “come to Jesus moment.” Right before my close-up, which was the last of the close-ups, Tyler yells (right before he says “action”) “And your mother was a whore!” I’m like, “Really?! Wow! Okay.” He said, “put that in the monologue” and then he said “action.” So, it was this new information that was so amazing that added a whole extra layer on her and it was fun because it became like jazz – like improvise on that now! And it was really fun.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

A) It’s just that I am so humbled and excited by everyone’s excitement for my work. It touches me so much and I really do read stuff and take it in. I read their comments and take them in. It’s very touching for me that my fans are actually getting my intentions, even sometimes seeing more than I think I’m putting out there. I just really so, to the bottom of my heart, appreciate how they support my work and appreciate it. It means the world to me. I want to be a producer and one of the reasons I feel I can do it is I see through social media and my fans that my instincts are good. My vision for things is good. I know that only because of them saying it back to me. It’s really giving me more courage to go out there and produce stuff.