Exclusively available on BET+, TYLER PERRY’S ‘BRUH’ examines the contemporary world of dating, career and friendship through the lens of four African American men with a brother-like bond. John, Tom, Mike and Bill are four college friends now in their thirties. As they navigate life, they are learning to stand on their own two feet, while relying on each other for support. Sometimes the love is tough, and the honesty brutal, but no matter the situation they see each other through with levity and laughter. In a society where companionship between men of color is often misjudged and misrepresented, the show depicts a healthy image of black brotherhood; embracing vulnerability without playing on stereotypical hypermasculinity.
The cast of TYLER PERRY’S ‘BRUH’ stars Barry Brewer as Jonathan “John” Watts, Mahdi Cocci as Tom Brooks, Phillip Mullings Jr as Mike Alexander, Monti Washington as Bill Frazier, Chandra Currelley as Alice Watts (John’s mother), Candice Renée (Insecure & Westworld) as Regina, and Alyssa Goss (The Bobby Brown Story) as Pamela.
TYLER PERRY’S ‘BRUH’ is executive produced, written, and directed by Tyler Perry. Michelle Sneed also serves as Executive Producer of the series for Tyler Perry Studios.
Blackfilm.com recently spoke with Alyssa Goss and Candice Renée about their leading roles in the show.
How exciting and meaningful is it to be a part of a Tyler Perry production?
Candice Renée: With the state of our country, it means even more than it did when we actually started filming the show. It feels really great to be on a black show right now because there’s a lot of pivoting that’s going on with networks and show creators and we don’t get to feel any of that right now. It’s an honor to be cast in one of his shows especially because he is very particular about casting. It’s all about his eye and what he’s written and what he sees for the show, so I’m really excited to be a part of it. I think it’s all a part of history at the end of the day.
Alyssa Goss: For me when I found that I was cast for this show I immediately said that it was absolute divine timing. I’m such a believer in God and just walking in there, you see the Dream building, you feel the energy and you get to meet the people that you’re going to be working with for a short amount of time and you become family. It felt like such a removal of fear being in Tyler Perry’s presence, because you aren’t able to say, “let me get another take,” you have to stay focused, stay present and stay in the moment; give the best and most honest performance that you can and the rest just falls into place.
How did you feel about your roles when you first read them?
Candice Renée: Off top, I said to myself– this girl Regina could easily be the revered angry black woman and I didn’t want that to be her title. So I knew I was going to have to do the work with thescript that I was given to make sure that that is not how she came across. She’s super strong, but super real and emotional but could come across angry if I’m not careful. I thought that she was going through a lot in just the first season and I felt like I had to do everything that I could possibly do to make her feel real and not so angry. Because it’s so easy to come across that way.
Alyssa Goss: For me, we got all the scripts beforehand and so just reading through everything, I could see where the story was going and so I felt like my job was to be as free as possible. It goes back to the elimination of fear– I’m a part of this production and so I needed to give it my all as if it was my last project. So really when I read everything it was more so just taking what I was given and making it my own; fighting for women and trying to back whatever female view that might need to come across.
How developed were your characters prior to you sinking your teeth into them?
Alyssa Goss: For Tyler Perry it’s all about what you’re really saying with your emotions and the energy behind it. I think that this first season was really just a baseline on people’s personalities; but as it keeps going I think that even with him being the creator, he’s kind of seeing who everyone is that’s a part of this. So it will be really cool to see how season two plays out (hopefully we get a season two). I think that he’s been able to see enough of our personalities throughout season one, where they’ll be more meat.
Candice Renée: I agree. I think it was a baseline. I feel like everything for the most part that we needed was there already and it was up to us to just fill in the blanks, give her the attitude, give her the personality and create the mood between each character. Regina doesn’t really react with every character on a consistent basis but when she does, I’m the one that has to create that relationship and how I am with that character. A lot of it was creating it on the spot and then some of it was just building those relationships during rehearsals or through discussions with each other.
You both play intuitive, secure, self-aware women who aren’t afraid to take a stand but can also be vulnerable. What did your characters mean to you?
Candice Renée: I think I learned a little bit from Regina. I’ve never been in her situation before but it did make me think about how Candice would respond to that in real life. And I feel like now I can say what I would do and I feel like that’s the connection with the audience– it puts you in the mindset of this being a real situation, it’s not too far-fetched and it can happen at any time. It definitely made me think, as a human being, of how I would actually treat a situation of this nature and I thought the same thing with watching Alyssa’s character.
Alyssa Goss: The first thing that comes to my mind is—it’s an honor to embody that character. It’s also the idea of setting your ego aside, which women do all the time. We lead with empathy, in my opinion. So it was really just looking at this character and being empathetic towards her and not judging her.
I respect how Pam “handled” Mike when he reacted to the decision she made. How did you relate to the character?
Alyssa Goss: I related to the character because if I’m really invested in someone I don’t really lead with anger too often. In a lot of situations Pam was looking at Mike with frustration. It takes a real strong character to be able to be quiet and I feel like in certain situations where Pam could’ve just gone off the rails, she just walked away.
I love how Regina didn’t fall for Bill’s sudden eureka moment and instead she challenged him in a way that allowed her to get what she needed. How did you connect with that character to evoke that level of emotion?
Candice Renée: I think that what Bill was giving me was enough to evoke the emotion. As an actor, I listen a lot because I feel like the majority of my job is to react. And so everything that Bill said and did that I felt was BS, I reacted to it.
How was it working with the cast of BRUH?
Candice Renée: Everybody had such fun personalities and they’re all team players. We got really lucky because we all got along really well and had a good time with each other in general, which helped the dynamic. I was probably the only one that wasn’t involved in the auditioning process where everybody got to meet each other, so we got really lucky that everybody meshed well together.
Alyssa Goss: I love all of them. Barry Brewer is one of the best people you will meet in your life. He is always going to be positive and just have a smile on his face and he stays ready to pray for you. Mahdi Cocci comes from a military background, he’s a great guy and this was an amazing opportunity for him so he took full advantage, in my opinion. Then you have Phillip Mullings Jr., he’s become my best friend, he’s genuinely a great guy, also from a military background. Then you have Monti Washington, we’re both Taurus’, so we locked horns in the best way. And Candice getting this role was so divine and she can speak more about that.
Candice Renée: Again, I was the only one that didn’t go through the entire auditioning process. They thought that they had found a Regina and they didn’t so they kind of went back to the drawing board. I was the last one to get cast out of everyone and so I kind of just got thrown into the loop. We were sent off to Atlanta, those of us that were in L.A., and then my grandmother passed away a day or two before we started filming (while we were in rehearsals). I didn’t say anything to anyone. I just knew that I had to stay focused and didn’t want to bring the energy down. But I was able to get through it. I don’t think I shared with anyone that she’d passed until the day we stopped filming. My grandmother was the one who introduced me to Tyler Perry when I was in college because she used to watch his plays and loved him. But when I booked the show I was able to tell her that I got it. It felt divine and it will always be a super special thing in my career that I’ll never forget.
Will we see more of Regina & Pam’s friendship blossom?
Alyssa Goss: I think that when the season was written out, my character wasn’t supposed to stay long but they ended up making it more than what was originally intended. So fingers crossed in season two that we see a lot more of Regina and Pam, because we definitely need some back and forth girl talk about these dudes.
Candice Renée: Pam definitely does stick up for Regina and so at least you get that sense of comradery from them. And I think that, again, next season you’ll see more of that because I feel like the characters need each other in what’s going on; women generally lean on one other and so you do want to see what they’re giving to each other in these hard times dealing with these men.
With the midseason finale (episode 112 ‘Dogs in the Snow’) premiering on Thursday July 9th, how would you sum up the show in its entirety?
Candice Renée: I think it’s a really raw, honest, masculine show, which I love because you don’t see that often. I can’t really name another show where you see black men giving more than just comedy; black men giving honest emotion. It’s always this thing where black men don’t talk about relationships with their women and what’s going or aren’t being honest to each other about these women. And that’s the thing about Mike (Philip Mullings Jr.’s character) that I’m starting to like about him—I can see the struggle within him to let go of some stuff.
Alyssa Goss: I agree with Candice. But just to sum it up– you haven’t seen anything yet. I wish all 24 episodes were out right now so we could get straight to it. I definitely think episodes 1 through 12 are giving you sincerity. I feel like nothing about this show is disingenuous and I think it’s great to see a group of black men together that have a relationship that’s gone on for years that doesn’t in any way seem oppressive. It shows a more positive side of black men.
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