Tamron Hall Show May 26 Has Janelle Monae And Misty Copeland As Guests
ONN – Tamron Hall Show May 26 Has Janelle Monae And Misty Copeland As Guests
New York – On the Tuesday, May 26th edition of “Tamron Hall,” Grammy Award-nominated singer-songwriter and actress Janelle Monáe joined the show to discuss her current role as ‘Jackie’ in season two of Amazon Prime’s “Homecoming,” which premiered this past Friday. Monáe also discussed the pressures she felt taking over as the lead with the new character after Julia Roberts’ successful first season in the starring role of ‘Heidi Bergman.’ On her new role as Jackie Monáe said: “Walking into this role, and also I have to be honest, being a black woman and leading a television show, I felt pressure. I felt like I needed to do this for all of us because we’re not getting opportunities to lead television series. You know, hopefully that changes, I hope it doesn’t stop with just me. I hope we continue to create these roles that we can tap into and own and have so much fun.”
On how Roberts’ performance in season one as both lead and executive producer inspired Monáe to accept the role: “She did a phenomenal job and she’s the reason why I’m doing the show because she came back to executive produce…I was so nervous. She is such an icon. You know, we can name so many of her films and she’s been around for awhile, she’s a legend.”
Monáe also reflected on Roberts’ surprise visit to set this season, saying: “Ms. Julia Roberts showed up on set. Stephan James, who is an incredible actor, you know we were doing a scene together. We had heard she was coming and we did our scene and then afterwards, we heard this really loud scream on set. Our set is usually very quiet, like you can hear a pin drop. One of the men from production leaned over to us and was like ‘I think she loves it. That was Julia Roberts.’ And we were like ‘Oh my god.’”
Janelle added: “[She] took photos and you know she told me she was super happy that I said yes to this project. And I just thanked her for passing the baton to me.”
Monáe also discussed how quarantining amidst the COVID-19 pandemic has been personally affecting her, saying: “It feels like we are uncovering some truths, or it’s making me think more about a lot of things…I just could not be more thankful for our essential workers: those who are delivering things, the doctors, the nurses. I mean, those are the real heroes right now. I have to give gratitude where it’s due.”
She added, “If someone told me this was going to happen, you know you’re going to have this amount of time in your home, I would say ‘Oh, well I’m going to have an album, I’m going to do this, I’m going to do that.’ But it’s the complete opposite Tamron. Music is so rooted in my reality, you know pre-pandemic, and it’s been super hard for me to grasp reality.”
Monáe later opened up about what made her emotional during her performance last month as a part of Verizon’s Pay It Forward Live entertainment series, saying: “I was feeling everything. Just looking at them and understanding their struggle and being able to give in that way was a moment of humanity for me and realizing that we really are going to have to be the people that save each other. We can’t depend on this administration. It’s going to be the people, for the people by the people.”
To give back to the community in Atlanta, Monáe recently teamed up with various organizations including the Project Isaiah, Gate Gourmet and Dickens to pass out 5,000 free meals: “It’s indeed important for me to understand that although we are experiencing things, our situations are not the same. My situation is not the same as a single black mom with five kids who just got laid off from her job and doesn’t know how she’s going to feed her family…to use my platform in that way is a huge, huge honor.”
Also on today’s show, renowned ballet dancer Misty Copeland opened up about the impact of COVID-19 on the dance industry: “For the dance community, you know I think we are often kind of hidden behind this beautiful curtain to keep the magic and put on performances that entertain people. Our livelihood is to be in a live theater, to have people come and pay to see us perform. So without that, there is no way for us to be making a living.”
On the silver lining Copeland feels amidst the pandemic, she said: “I think that this is a moment for the ballet community to kind of step into the future. I think we have so much history and so much tradition, which is so beautiful to be a part of an art form, one of the few that still exists that you know not much has changed in terms of the technique and the way we approach our shows. And so I feel like this is a way to reach more people, people that maybe feel intimidated, that feel that it’s not a part of their culture, it’s not a part of their world to step into a theater, that it’s too expensive.”
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