Premiering on BET Plus on February 20th from Tri Destined Studios & Urban Books Media is their new movie with BET Films, “Carl Weber’s Influence.” Directed by Trey Haley from a script adapted by Carl Weber, the cast Roger Gueneveur Smith, Deborah Cox, Kellita Smith, Columbus Short, Nadine Ellis, Gary Dourdan, Anthony Hamilton, Drew Sidora, Bebe Drake, Broderick Hunter, and Todd Anthony.
With his trademark dramatic style, NY Times Best selling author, Carl Weber introduces us to the Hudsons, a family of African-American lawyers lead by famed attorney Bradley Hudson. Bradley is the Johnnie Cochran of our time; and along with his son Lamont, daughter Desiree and new wife Carla, the Hudsons make up some of the best legal minds in the country. They are going to need it to defend Grammy award winning singer Savannah against the murder charges of killing her celebrity husband Kyle Kirby.
For singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer Deborah Cox, it’s not that often we see her acting on the big or small screen. On stage, she’s a force to reckon with, having appeared in the title role in the Broadway musical Aida as well as the biographical musical Josephine and more recently the musical adaptation of The Bodyguard.
Blackfilm.com caught up with Cox as she spoke about her experience working on ‘Influence’ and what can we expect next from her.
We don’t see you on a big or small screen so often so when we do see you it’s always a surprise. What was the attraction to doing this film?
Deborah Cox: I was attracted to the fact that it was a suspense, that it was a little bit of a thriller. I’ve never done this genre before in a film. I thought that was intriguing and there was no singing in before. The character I play is a superstar and a celebrity. Originally, there was no music and everything that I’ve been involved in has always been a musical. We put the song in the film after we shot everything.
Do you get a lot of scripts thrown at you?
Deborah Cox: I get a lot of a lot of musicals sometimes. They’re not quite interesting or sometimes the timing doesn’t work out for me to do it. This was the first feature film that I had been approached with in a long time.
Is the film based on a book?
Deborah Cox: It is based on a book. Carl Weber had the series and it’s based off of that, and I’m not how different this film is from the book. But it is definitely based off of his series.
What other similarities and differences are between you and the character?
Deborah Cox: Savannah has a very selfish side. She’s self centered and it’s seems to be all about her. That’s the complete opposite from me. I tend to think about my team around me, the people that are helping me to execute things. I hold them in high regard. Whereas Savannah is just used to everything being her way all the time. Without you anything about the story, she could be pretty conniving.
You’re working opposite a handful of veteran actors. How was it working with Roger and Columbus and some of the other actors in the film that you had scenes with?
Deborah Cox: My first day was with Columbus Short. We had to find this connection as soon as we got our scenes together. He’s a great actor and I love his work in Scandal and some of his films before. That was really a lot of fun. And then Roger was really intense. He’s somebody that I’ve watched. I’ve seen his films. I’ve seen his stuff on stage. He’s really an intense person and a really intense actor. One of the things that I think I took away from the experience, because a lot of my scenes were with him because he was playing the lawyer who represents me for the case Mr. Hudson, he was so locked in and intense and connected to what was happening that he never came out of it. Even as we as the director said, “Cut,” he was still in it. A lot of actors come out of the character and then just let go and relax. But not Roger, he was really intense with it, even after the scene and that was really brilliant to watch and see happen.
You’re working with Trey Haley, who’s done a number of films. Have you seen his work before?
Deborah Cox: I’ve seen his work with television. I saw his direction with The Family Business. Trey’s the director’s actor. He really allows you to bring your instincts to the character. He really allows some freedom there which is nice because I have worked with directors where they don’t want you to really explore much and not that isn’t much fun as an actor and so it was really a joy to work with Trey. He was fun but he also knew that I had my own ideas and my own instincts about certain things too and he allowed me to do that. I allowed all of us to do that really.
With so much programming on television and cable and streaming channels, what do you think is the sell to seeing “Influence”?
Deborah Cox: I think the sell to seeing “Influence” is that it explores a slightly different take on this family, moving and using their power in the world of law, and just seeing how they navigate through that. Protecting people that aren’t guilty or guilty or people that are innocent and trying to figure out that dynamic. It’s a story that you don’t really see that often. I think that’s what’s going to be interesting for the audience to see.
When are we going to see you back on stage?
Deborah Cox: I love Broadway. I love the stage. We just need more writers and we need more producers that can can get these properties on stage. The last thing that I did was The Bodyguard. That was a touring show. So that really took me away from the stage or at least Broadway anyway, for a minute. But I’m exploring and looking at some new material now and because the Broadway process does take a long time. I can’t speak on any of those projects right now because there’s no theater just yet, but I will be back. Hopefully soon.
Are there more film projects that you’re there you’re looking to do?
Deborah Cox: Yes. I have something that I’m shooting in Vancouver that I’m actually leaving for, which is part of the reason why I wasn’t available for next week. I have that and then I’m reading some other scripts and I plan on doing more with Tri Destined and Trey and their team. They’re really progressive and they want to bring our stories to life and they want to basically dominate every genre. So I love the ambitiousness. I love that they want to just get to work and make it happen. So we’ll definitely do more in the future.
Anything in the pipeline musically?
Deborah Cox: Yes, I’m pretty excited about that. I’ve been working with Rico Love. He is also the executive producer of this seventh album. Easy Way is the newest single that we just released. I’ve been getting my time in the studio to finish up the album. So we’re looking for the release probably later later this year.
When you’re not acting on a stage or on screen, and you’re not doing any music, what keeps you humble?
Deborah Cox: I have a family and so I found a way to keep it all balanced by literally just juggling it all and trying to keep things, mainly my family a priority. When I have things that I’m offered to do and I have to leave and go out of town I try to make sure that my family is is good with it and that we’re able to still have some quality time with us as a family. I find when I do that and I really pencil things in and we all make sure we have time for the family in our calendar I find that it’s it gets done. If you don’t do that, the time just seems to go and and then you find yourself just trying to play catch up. For me, it’s about really prioritizing the time and things around my kids, my family, finding time with my husband and the only way to do that is just by juggling it all. It’s not even a balancing act. It’s just constantly juggling. Sometimes you’ll miss it. Sometimes you’ll miss an opportunity, but you just pick right back up and you try to handle it the best way you can.
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