Bossip Exclusive: Check Out Our Interviews With The Cast Of “For Better or For Worse”

BOSSIP: How excited are you to be working on “For Better or Worse,” a spinoff of your role in “Why Did I Get Married?”

Tasha Smith: Beyond excited. You get to work with one of your best friends, you get to do a role you love, working with a director, writer, producer that you love, it’s like being with family every day.

BOSSIP: What does it take to bring that fierce energy to the role of Angela?

TS: She’s a very passionate person and I’m high energy so it works. But we don’t have much in common besides the fact that we’re both Black and loud. A lot of things Angela does I would never do in my relationship. She’s a different kind of woman than me. I’m fun, I’m loud, but I’m not disrespectful.

One thing I hate is for people to automatically think Angela is just a rude, loud mouthed disrespectful woman, and that’s not who she is. I think if people took the time out to really look at Angela and look at themselves they’ll see, wow I had those experiences before but I had a reason why. We may not have seen her reason before but we can relate. That’s why women connect to her cuz they know when they’ve lost it, they’ve gotten emotional, they’ve gotten insecure.

BOSSIP: Your colleague Jason Olive (who plays Joseph) spoke to us about how this show is different in terms of the character’s lifestyle, being upper middle class. How conscious were you about this aspect of the show?

TS: It’s a good thing to empower people and give them hope by being a black family involved in entrepreneurship because even today, with the economic status that our country is in, a lot of people have to be creative in figuring out their new streams of income. I feel like this is empowering and inspiring. Michael’s character Marcus probably wasn’t thinking five years ago in the first “Why Did I Get Married,” ‘One day I’m going to own my own studio,’ and Angela probably didn’t know how successful her business would be but she knew ‘I want my business, I want my product line,’ so for us to be able to evolve and dream and do more I think it will inspire those entrepreneurial ideas in others.

BOSSIP: How much of your own marriage do you bring to the set?

Tasha: We don’t have references within our own marriage when it comes to Marcus and Angela because neither of our relationships are like that, we’re just not there. It’s not necessarily based on our relationships. The reference we do have is our love and commitment to our families, to my husband, to his wife and us wanting people to see and understand that with Angela and Marcus because of the fact that we have that love and that connection as married people. We want that to be respectful. When we say “For Better or Worse” we made commitments to our spouses so we want people to say “you can do this” regardless, you can forgive, you can communicate you can compromise in order to make it work.

Keep reading for Michael Jai White’s take on “For Better or Worse”

BOSSIP: How much of yourself do you think you bring to your character in “For Better or Worse”?

Michael Jai White: Marcus is really nothing like who I am as a person but the character is getting traits of me, he’s maturing, he’s evolving from “Why Did I Get Married 1.”

BOSSIP: Aside from “The Cosby Show” it seems like the upper middle class black family has kind of been an anomaly on television. Did that have any bearing on what you bring to the role?

MJW: The fact that we are doing well as opposed to anything else doesn’t matter at all. We just have to pay allegiance to the truth. It’s really about what couples go through. I think it would be a mistake to play it like okay, they’re well to do. That would be playing it from the outside in. What unites us all is the human experience, so folks from all segments and economic stations in life can identify.

BOSSIP: How do you feel about Tasha’s role, Angela? Has she gotten a bad rap for bullying Marcus?

Michael: I think people have confused loud with outspoken. Both Tasha and Angela can be outspoken but that is a very empowering thing for people because she is saying what everyone wants to say but is afraid to. She liberates women and just anybody that wants to speak out. Coming from her perspective, it’s like a psychological term called “acting on id,” she is a woman that acts on id. She’s free from the shackles of political correctness and that is something that is a strength in both of them. She has that talent. That’s what Tasha does as well. Being outspoken is freeing.

BOSSIP: What do you think people can learn from watching “For Better or Worse”

Michael Jai White: One thing that I try to put in the Marcus character is that a lot of men have been taught to be players and a lot of women have to be taught game early to survive. To survive you have to evolve and step your game up. Knowing that obstacle women have as far as trusting and what part men have played in that for so long you have to be accepting with that and patient with it.

Keep reading for a brief interview with additional members of the cast.

BOSSIP sat down with three other members of the cast including former Miss USA and Miss Texas Crystle Stewart, former model Jason Olive and Kent Faulcon, all whom have made guest appearances on other Perry shows like “Meet the Browns” and “House of Payne,” BOSSIP chatted it up with them about their new roles, shooting in Atlanta and working with Tyler Perry. Check out the interview below:

BOSSIP: How did you like shooting in Atlanta?

Crystle Stewart: I’m from Houston and it reminds me of home. I live in L.A. now so I love it for that Southern hospitality.

BOSSIP: Tell me about your parts.

Jason: Crystle has a lot of great parts. Her legs… (laughter)

Crystle: I play Leslie and Joseph is my boyfriend. I’m a real estate agent and I sell very prestigious homes. I’m the peacemaker of the group. I always see the glass as half full. I have a positive outlook on any situation. I’m best friends with Angela and integrity is a big part of my character so anytime they ask for advice I’m very honest and very real. I’m that person that gives her the level mind.

Jason: I play Joseph. I’m the devoted boyfriend who won’t marry her. They have a lot in common. They truly love each other in terms of values and who they are as people they are just trying to get over that next little hump.

BOSSIP: What was it like working together as an ensemble? How difficult was it getting the group dynamic to work?

Crystle: Even when we first met it seems like we knew each other for years. We really clicked.

Jason: It was amazing to realize watching the first episode in particular, that was the first day we ever worked together period. It’s one day, one show — a show a day. Our relationship off camera is so tight it’s all there.

BOSSIP: Did Tyler Perry direct all the episodes? How was it working with him?

Jason: Tyler Perry directed the first ten episodes. My favorite part of working with Tyler is the creativity and the demands that are put on you as an actor by the direction of Tyler to deliver. At the end of the day “For Better or Worse” is a historic show. There has never been a show in the history of television like this, depicting six affluent black people.Three couples as well as Todd, the single character. There’s never been a show like this that has depicted black ownership and issues that are larger than income. You feel this tremendous sense of responsibility and you can shrink from that or you really enjoy it and I think all of us have just jumped in and gone all in.

Kent Faulcon: In working with Tyler, I’ve never worked with someone who has trusted their inspirational “gut” better than he does. He’s got an idea, we got him, let’s go with that.

Tune in to TBS Friday nights at 10/9 c to check out “For Better or Worse”.