ENTERTAINMENT-Todd Bridges -Hollywood Star-YAP with us

Okay so we are here with Todd Bridges, An actor that’s has done a lot of work in his career, from TV sitcoms, to movies, I mean he has pretty much done it all. He knows every one in the business how you doing today Todd?

Q----Pretty Good and how are you today?
A----I’m doing good im doing good

Q----I pretty much have a series of questions..First questionAs you know you were a household name on a popular 80’s TV sitcom ”Different Strokes” How was that whole experience for you from start to finish?
A----Well, TV shows are a lot of fun, because you eventually become really big families. On shows you get to know them for so long and not just the people on the show but everyone around the show like the whole crew. So you end up with a big family of 250 people that you meet throughout the show. You become a family. In beginning it’s a little nervous because you don’t know anybody but towards the end nobody wants to leave. Everybody wants the show to continue but unfortunately that’s not the way the business works! 

 Mr. Smooth Age 19              Q----Did you always know you wanted to act?
A----I knew from the very beginning I was just five years old. I remember thinking that I wanted to be just like Rick Fox. So I KNEW that I was going to be an actor.

Q----How did you compare your real life self to your character Willis that you played on the show?
A----Well everybody takes a piece of them when you’re on a show, any character that you play is a small part that you become and you become that character. In the end I guess the comparison would be that just having fun and having a good time, because that was my personality.

Q----What is one good memory that you’ve had since the show?
A----I have a lot of different great memories. I would say just the whole experience of working. But one of the BEST memories would be meeting Janet Jackson and dating her for 2 years. That was a lot of fun and a great experience.

Q----What would you would be one of the worst memories?
A----Having to leave. When it was over.  

Q----Some one that’s my age and I am seventeen and I know nothing about the show. I was only able to watch two episodes on the internet. What is something you would want my generation to know about you?
A----About the show that im in now, im in the show “Everybody Hates Chris” I play a character names Monk! Just to know that if you plan on being in show business you got to plan on a long and tough career and that there is always ups and downs. It’s NEVER just up. You got to put your heart in to it and have to be willing to take the ups with down. I am working on my own show now.

Q----How long were you acting before “Different Strokes” came along?
A----I started at six year old so 1971. I did shows like “Roots””Fish””Little House on the Prairie” I have done over 200 commercials. I kew SammyI say when I started in the business there was more black unity than there is today, because you went to each others parties. We had to go to the black parties because we weren’t invited to the white parties.Another thing that a lot of the young generation doesn’t realize is that we have paved the road for where you guys are today.I remember being on sets of show and my mother and I would be at our dressing rooms and we heard racist comments all time. You have to remember it was during the era of Martin Luther King. Martin Luther King paved the road for black kids to works with shows like this. That’s why our show was so ground breaking. It was the first time that you ever saw two black kids run up to a white guy and say hey I love you. It was mind blowing for everyone!We got hate mail from both sides.

Q----That’s beautiful ! What morals have you learned from the show that you use in your everyday life?
A----I would say that, the thing about television back then is that they dealt more with family morals then they do today. Today they deal with children talking back and doing whatever they want and saying whatever they to adults. The era that I grew up in wasn’t like that. You talk back to your mom you may loose your teeth! In the show we didn’t talk back to Mr Drumman and if we did we got in trouble. I think that the main fact of the matter is that its all about love and that’s what it should be.

Q----Was your mom always your manager?
A----She did in the begging, not any longer, I have a lot of different managers now and they each do different things for me. I have learned that you should be locked into one person because I don’t think it’s fair to the artist. As long as everybody gets there percentage it should be fine.Most big artists just have lawyers to draw up contracts. My managers like me because they get their money..

Q----Do you like being more in front of the spotlight or working behind the scenes?
A----I love it both, there completely different. When you work behind the scenes you can fall asleep a lot. But if you’re in front of the camera you can’t. You are in every scene. But it is difficult when you’re in the film and producing the project.

Q----Do you feel that you more appreciated in Hollywood as a kid or as an adult?
A----It’s weird because that a catch 22, because the loyalty for black entertainers is really different than it is for white entertainers. They are more appreciated by they’re peers than we are by our own. I believe that we have to get our appreciation from how we feel about ourselves. We done get it from our friends.

Q----Now that the entertainment industry is different than what it was in the past would you what your child or children involved?
A----Well my son works in the entertainment industry already. He works a lot and he was in Daddy Day Care. It’s not the business that makes kids problems it’s the parenting. If you have good parents then you’ll have nothing to worry about. If you have bad parents then you’ll have problems!

Q----How were you able to break away from that character “Willis”? So many can’t break away from their household name.
A----A great part of it was probably all the trouble that I got in. Its help me get out of being known for only Willis. Which is crazy. I always say that God has a plan. His plan was to put me in the position to do different things and now im a very fair person and a very honest person. Because of that I was able to make a new path for my self!

Q---- What kind of troble did you get into?
A---- Well you guys might be too young to know about it but I did a lot of stupid stuff. I got involve with the wrong people and do some very bad things that cause me about seven years of my career.

Q----Do you think you would have become the person that you are today without going through trouble that did?
A----No. There is no way that would I would be the person that I am today. It was a blessing? God will use your disadvantages to advantages and the more I tell my story the more I believe can help others.

Q----Did the radio show with Alex Thomas reach your expectation?
A----The show went okay. But there is still a lot more to work on. Alex is a great person to work with.

Q----What advice would give to upcoming actors to help them stand in their own power and strength?
A----You got to have a strong back and thick skin in this business because no matter what they are going to talk smack about you.

Ending Statements from Radha and SmoothWell we thank you for spending this time with us and answering our question. We are looking forward to seeing you in upcoming projects and we bless you on your journey. It’s definitely cool and fun yapping with Todd. Its Radha and Smooth signing off.