The Actor Jenifer Lewis: Mother, Activist, Hurricane

The New Yorker Radio Hour

WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

Politics, Arts, News, Wnyc, Books, David, Storytelling, Society & Culture, Yorker, New, Remnick

4.2 • 6.2K Ratings

🗓️ 26 August 2022

⏱️ 18 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Jenifer Lewis is known as the “Mother of Black Hollywood” for good reason; her screen progeny have included Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett, and Tupac Shakur. In her latest turn, she’s playing the alpha boss of a home-shopping network on the Showtime series “I Love That For You.” It’s no surprise that Lewis keeps getting cast as formidable ladies—the roles come naturally to her, as you’ll hear in her conversation with the New Yorker contributor Michael Schulman. Lewis’s new memoir is called “Walking in My Joy: In These Streets.”

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is The New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker.
0:12.0	Welcome to The New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick.
0:15.7	Wherever he is, the actor Jennifer Lewis tends to steal the show.
0:20.1	Look at you, Viv films, and on television,
0:30.9	and she's known for playing some very strong women, not unlike herself.
0:36.0	Right now, she's playing the CEO of a home shopping network
0:39.5	on the new Showtime series. I love that for you. Do I have suggestion box on my forehead?
0:46.5	Great. Everybody excited? Good. Me too. Lewis's new memoir is called Walking in My Joy,
0:52.7	and she recently spoke with New Yorker contributor, Michael Shulman.
0:58.6	So my colleague, Kalalia, and I jumped on Zoom to talk with Ms. Lewis.
1:02.7	I was in my home office.
1:04.8	She was in her living room in L.A. with flowers, and she was beautifully made up for a photo shoot.
1:12.2	Okay, we are recording.
1:13.2	Recording. Michael, you're recording?
1:15.1	And just over her shoulder was this beautiful white grand piano.
1:18.3	All right. Have fun.
1:20.0	Thank you, baby.
1:21.1	I'm here if you need anything.
1:22.7	Okay, pumpkin.
1:23.7	Okay.
1:24.4	We had a great conversation. Heads up.
1:26.7	As she tends to do, she used a lot of salty language. It's what she does best. It's great to meet you. First of all, you have a beautiful home. Am I looking? Is that what I'm looking at? Darling, I have a beautiful home. Yes, you are. You're looking at my home. Oh, Kalias wants me to remind you to hold the
	...

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