ON THE RISE, MAKING MOVES: BRAD JAMES

Not a veteran as an actor yet, but you can’t deny his talent for blazing trails in the Acting/Entertainment world.The talented witty and handsome actor Brad James, who plays Todd on OWN’s ‘For Better or Worse’, is far from the off the wall character he portrays. Although he is super funny, when asked if he would ever consider doing stand-up comedy, he humbly replied “Standup?! No no (laughs), I’m far from Kevin Hart (laughs).” James is an intelligent business man who’s diligently working his formula to success such as mentors Tyler Perry and media mogul Oprah Winfrey. There is more to this man than just those Wal-Mart commercials. Ladies this newly single man also talked about what attracts him to women. Read on as he discusses the show, Tyler Perry, meeting Oprah and the many things he’s involved in.

UC: Congratulations on another season of ‘For Better or Worse’ and your new home on OWN. How has it been this time around?
BJ: Thank you, Thank you. It’s been great being on OWN. The staff is world class, their goals are upstanding. One of the things that we as a cast noticed about working with Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey at the same time is that it’s not easy to succeed in entertainment. It’s even harder and more challenging if you’re trying to put out a positive message while you’re doing it and that’s something those two have in common. So we know we’re not just putting out some junk, we’re putting out something that has more than one purpose. Everybody else just has that singular purpose to entertain, but we have to entertain, inform, educate, uplift… and so we’re just honored to be a part of that.

UC: So what was it like meeting Oprah Winfrey?

BJ: You know meeting Oprah is one of those experiences that you’ll never forget and in a good way you always want to be remembered for good things. Oprah is one of those people who touched so many people through her work, through her shows, through her influences. Just being the first black female Billionaire is historic enough. But I’ll tell you when she walked in the room and I turned around and she said “Hey Brad” and gave me a hug. The first thing I said is “Oprah knows my name?!” (Laughing). So it’s a big deal and it means a lot, but aside from the superficial things on the surface that everybody notices, it really is to just understand the purpose behind it all. Nothing that Tyler Perry or Oprah Winfrey does is without a deeper purpose.

UC: Right

BJ: That may be why they have such outstanding success when everybody else thought they couldn’t. Realizing what your purpose is and going after that purpose instead of chasing a dollar.

UC: And how is it like working and being around Tyler Perry?

BJ: It’s ahhh (laughs) It’s a once in a lifetime experience and for me that means you never stop growing, you never stop learning. We just finished our 100^th episode of ‘For Better or Worse’. Even knowing him I’ve done other shows with him. I’ve done ‘House of Payne’ and a couple episodes of ‘Meet the Browns’. So I’ve seen Tyler day in and day out and I’m still amazed at his work ethic. How hard he works when people don’t see what’s going on so he’s on set with us every day and people ask me all the time “Have you ever met Tyler?” Have I ever met Tyler?! Who do you think I’m fighting with everyday? (Laughter)

UC: Fighting? (Laughs)

BJ: Fighting with! (Laughs) because when you care about something you’re fighting for or fighting with it and he’s in the fight right there with us. So he’s directing every scene, he’s writing every script making sure that the message comes across and that’s what’s allowing me to learn so much.

UC: So what was the audition process like? You mentioned you’ve done previous work with him before so how did that come about?

BJ: The most interesting thing is…I’ve never auditioned for Tyler. My story is very unique. With season 1of ‘Meet the Browns’, I went in there one day as a stand in, I never done stand in work before, and half way through the day the producer, Mark Swinton, came up to me and asked “Have you ever done stand in work before?” I said “You just gonna embarrass me like this and fire me from doing stand in work in front of everybody (laughter). What he did was…he said “let me talk to you”, he pulled me to the side and the next thing I knew I was on the show and they sent the other guy home. That’s how I ended up on the show.

UC: Wow, so what were you doing before you were the stand in guy?
BJ: I was stand in for a day, I even wrestled with it wondering should I go because I’m an actor. I’ve never worked at Tyler’s studio and I didn’t want to get down there to see it, but I humbled myself and did something I normally don’t do in order to get down there. First of all I went from stand in to principle performer that day and they invited me back for season 2. I came back as a character for season 2…still hadn’t auditioned for them. And they liked the character so much they gave the job to somebody else. If you ever see a light- skinned guy that’s on that show, it was from the character I started on the show. I didn’t have any credits so they haven’t seen my work outside of there. I went out and started doing other TV shows. I did Teen Wolf, One Tree Hill, Let’s Stay Together, Reed Between the Lines, Single Ladies. Some of everybody’s shows because I realize you have to keep moving in this business and you want to be on your toes. When For Better or Worse came around they gave me a call and brought me in, it’s been a great relationship every since. So I’m grateful to them for the initial opportunities they gave me and then it’s like coming back home. Being able to come back and perform with people. I really care about my cast and crew over there. It truly is a family; it’s like no other environment you’ll see. I’ve never been on sets like this before.

UC: Out of all the work and shows you’ve done?

BJ: Yes because when you go on a film set, you’re there for a few days to a few weeks or maybe a couple months then it’s over, it ends. But, I come back to my ‘For Better or Worse’ family year after year and we grow together. We experience things together, hang out over each others’ houses. When I’m in LA I’m visiting with my casts when they come here they’re staying with me. It’s just a great time and relationship.

UC:  I bet the scripts per episodes look like a phonebook. (Chuckles)

BJ: Absolutely! Well not to give away Mr. Perry’s secrets and tricks of the trade. Not all is a secret, but its hard work. There is a lot of dialog, there’s over 60 pages a day that you need to know, to know that dialog in and out, there’s no play play…you better work. I’ve seen people go home (laughing). Remember that’s how I got my first job there I saw somebody go home (laughing) and I was like ‘that’s not gonna be me!’

UC: Wow, that’s right you took someone’s spot. Best advice Mr. Perry has given you in the business?               

BJ: It’s really interesting. The best thing he’s ever told me… he’s shown me. Even when the world sees you as a success there is work to do. He’s working just as hard now as he was years ago when I first met him. They talked about him being the highest paying person in Hollywood last year. He’s working like, if he doesn’t work he don’t have a job tomorrow, so he’s on it but really love what you do. Nobody is giving it to you; you have to get it yourself.

UC: What can we expect this season on the show?
BJ:  You can expect to be taken on a ride because it was an adventure for us and we want the audience to go on the same adventure that we went on. We really do look forward to each episode airing. I don’t see episodes before they air, I watch them right along with the audience. We live tweet, laugh joke and feel it at the same time.

UC: What involvements are you doing this weekend as well other things under your belt?

BJ: I don’t want to tell you about my weekend plans (laughing). No, really I’m on my business right now. I have a lot of meetings and I also privately invest. I’m not one of those people that want to wait until after the money stops coming in or after the attention is off of you before you start to do other things. I co-founded The Atlanta Television Festival, click here for more information on that. It’s a really great initiative to help those that are aspiring and working to develop television programming right here in the metro Atlanta area. Over 51 TV shows and specials were shot right here last year and that number is only going to increase. So we want to make sure that those who are living and working in this area have a chance to be a part of that.

I also, through Brad James LLC, invest in multiple businesses so it’s a lot of good things that we’re doing. I’m an ambassador for other film festivals, like ‘The Peachtree Village International Film Festival’, that just happened recently. We have the ongoing Wal-mart Campaign. I’ve been doing that for the last year and a half. It’s the biggest retailer in the world and they’re here for a reason. We’re still promoting the movie ‘Prisoners’

(Click here to watch the trailer)….just doing so much. I just released a film with David and Tamela Mann and a pilot TV show with David and Tamela Mann also, I can’t tell you the name because it hasn’t been sold yet but it’s a great story and I don’t have to be the funny off the wall character this time. I’ll leave that to Mr. David Mann.
 

UC: Would you ever do a horror?
BJ: I’ve done horror before? I did a film originally called ‘A Haunting in Georgia’. it’s now called ‘A Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia. I did it with Cicely Tyson, who played my grandmother and Chad Michael Murray. Yeah I do scary; I’ll do a horror again.
 
 Thanks Mr. Brad James for a great interview. Don’t forget to check him out Wednesday’s on Tyler Perry’s ‘For Better or Worse’ on the OWN Network and look for many things to come from this actor. Congrats! Brad and continue to stay humble on your road to success. ~UC xoxo
Are you a fan of Tyler Perry’s For Better or Worse? Are you a fan of Brad James? Drop a comment below.

All pics: IMDb except Last pic: Urban Crush

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