Entertainment

Three’s Complicated and Fun on Film

THE AFRO — The project stars Shanola Hampton (of Showtime’s “Shameless”), who also served as an executive producer on the film.

Published

5 years ago

January 28, 2019

Oakland Post

By George Kevin Jordan

What would you do? You are 42, divorced and passed over for a promotion. You meet a cute young thing at a bar and have some fun—for once. You have a no-strings-attached session and keep it pushing back to your “real life.” But then you discover your daughter (read: your real life) is dating your weekend-stand. Throw in an ex or two and it gets…well…complicated.

That the premise behind “Three’s Complicated,” a film that debuts Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. EST/ 6 p.m. Central on TV One.

The project stars Shanola Hampton (of Showtime’s “Shameless”), who also served as an executive producer on the film. The film was written and directed by Shari Lynette Carpenter. Rounding out the cast are Tyler Lepley (“The Haves and The Have Nots”), Kyanna Simone Simpson (“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”) and Charles Malik Whitfield (“The Temptations”).

Hampton was excited to bring the project to life, and to have a bigger hand in the process.

“It’s really a great concept,” Hampton said about the film, adding that the project gave her a chance to fulfill many goals she envisioned for herself in the upcoming year.

“It was one of my visions last year for my life,” Hampton said. “I wanted to find a film I was excited about, I wanted to work with a great team. It was a great partnership with TV One. It was so much fun. It really was what I call the perfect marriage for my first time as executive producer.”

Hampton was very candid about taking the helm, saying, “There are all sorts of decisions that need to be made that people have no idea about.”

She added with a laugh, “But I like being a boss. I’m a boss in my own house – ask my husband. I executive produce my life. It was an easy transition to do it on set.”

All jokes aside Hampton and the crew are excited to be on the uptick of entertainment gigs for people of color, but are not afraid to call out the hypocrisy of Hollywood.

“We have had more opportunities than we’ve ever had which is a good thing but we still have a long way to go,” Hampton said.

Tyler Lepley said he was excited as well but knows talent is talent regardless of the beholder.

“You have someone like Viola Davis,” Avery said. “She was great before anyone White said she was great. This whole thing of a Black artist not being great unless a White person says so is just stupid. That Black artistry is great before anyone else says it is.”

Even though it’s a comedy, “Three’s Complicated” is doing some low-key activism, pushing to the forefront ideas of sexuality, romance, identity and, of course, aging.

“This is definitely one reason I was drawn to the role,” Hampton said. “The fact of the matter that 42 is not old by any means but in certain industries it’s perceived that way. It is a story that needs to be told; I really wanted to show beauty, talent, heart, even in your forties.”

Last week, Regina King, after winning a Golden Globe for her role in “If Beale Street Could Talk,” made a promise that 50 percent of any crew she worked on would be women. This call to action resonates with Hampton and her team.

“Look at our film: A woman wrote it, a women directed,” she said, adding, “A woman is going to bring something different than a male. There’s a different love that goes to it. So it needs to be done more.”

Once a project is completed your idea of what you wanted may have shifted. But Hampton an Lepley were very focused on their goals for the film.

“I want to bring a grounded sense of reality to this romantic comedy and not have it be slapstick,” Lepley said; “to bring the truth to something that is funny.”

Hampton concurred, “I really want people to feel the subtlety of this being a romantic comedy but making sure it was rooted in truth. I wanted people to feel the reality of it.”

For more information on the film please go to the TV One site.

This article originally appeared in The Afro.

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Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

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5 days ago

April 19, 2024

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Entertainment

O.J. Simpson, 76, Dies of Prostate Cancer

Orenthal James (O.J.) Simpson, who rose to fame as a college football player who went on to the NFL and parlayed his talents in acting and sportscasting, succumbed to prostate cancer on April 10, his family announced.

Published

7 days ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Orenthal James (O.J.) Simpson. Wikipedia photo

By Post Staff

Born and raised in San Francisco, the Galileo High School graduate was recruited by the University of Southern California after he was on a winning Junior College All-American team.

At USC, he gained wide acclaim as a running back leading to him becoming the No. 1 pick in the AFL-NFL draft in 1969 and joining the Buffalo Bills, where he had demanded – and received — the largest contract in professional sports history: $650,000 over five years. In 1978, the Bills traded Simpson to his hometown team, the San Francisco 49ers, retiring from the game in 1979.

Simpson’s acting career had begun before his pro football career with small parts in 1960s TV (“Dragnet”) before “Roots” and film (“The Klansman,” “The Towering Inferno,” Capricorn One”).

He was also a commentator for “Monday Night Football,” and “The NFL on NBC,” and in the mid-1970s Simpson’s good looks and amiability made him, according to People magazine, “the first b\Black athlete to become a bona fide lovable media superstar.”

The Hertz rent-a-car commercials raised his recognition factor while raising Hertz’s profit by than 50%, making him critical to the company’s bottom line.

It could be said that even more than his success as a football star, the commercials of his running through airports endeared him to the Black community at a time when it was still unusual for a Black person to represent a national, mainstream company.

He remained on Hertz team into the 1990s while also getting income endorsing Pioneer Chicken, Honey Baked Ham and Calistoga water company products and running O.J. Simpson Enterprises, which owned hotels and restaurants.

He married childhood sweetheart Marguerite Whitley when he was 19 and became the father of three children. Before he divorced in 1979, he met waitress and beauty queen Nicole Brown, who he would marry in 1985. A stormy relationship before, during and after their marriage ended, it would lead to a highway car chase as police sought to arrest Simpson for the murder by stabbing of Brown and her friend Ron Goldman in 1994.

The pursuit, arrest, and trial of Simpson were among the most widely publicized events in American history, Wikipedia reported.

Characterized as the “Trial of the Century,” he was acquitted by a jury in 1995 but found liable in the amount of $33 million in a civil action filed by the victims’ families three years later.

Simpson would be ensnared in the criminal justice system 12 years later when he was arrested after forcing his way into a Las Vegas hotel room to recover sports memorabilia he believed belonged to him.

In 2008, he received a sentence of 33 years and was paroled nine years later in 2017.

When his death was announced, Simpson’s accomplishments and downfalls were acknowledged.

Sports analyst Christine Brennan said: “… Even if you didn’t love football, you knew O.J. because of his ability to transcend sports and of course become the businessman and the pitchman that he was.

“And then the trial, and the civil trial, the civil case he lost, and the fall from grace that was extraordinary and well-deserved, absolutely self-induced, and a man that would never be seen the same again,” she added.

“OJ Simpson played an important role in exposing the racial divisions in America,” attorney Alan Dershowitz, an adviser on Simpson’s legal “dream team” told the Associated Press by telephone. “His trial also exposed police corruption among some officials in the Los Angeles Police Department. He will leave a mixed legacy. Great athlete. Many people think he was guilty. Some think he was innocent.”

“Cookie and I are praying for O.J. Simpson’s children … and his grandchildren following his passing. I know this is a difficult time,” Magic Johnson said on X.

“I feel that the system failed Nicole Brown Simpson and failed battered women everywhere,” attorney Gloria Allred, who once represented Nicole’s family, told ABC News. “I don’t mourn for O.J. Simpson. I do mourn for Nicole Brown Simpson and her family, and they should be remembered.”

Simpson was diagnosed with prostate cancer about a year ago and was undergoing chemotherapy treatment, according to Pro Football Hall of Fame President Jim Porter. He died in his Las Vegas, Nevada, home with his family at his side.

He is survived by four children: Arnelle and Jason from his first marriage and Sydney and Justin from his second marriage. He was predeceased son, Aaren, who drowned in a family swimming pool in 1979.

Sources for this report include Wikipedia, ABC News, Associated Press, and X.