Disney+’s The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder is back for a second season. Premiering on Feb. 1, the show will pick up with its entertaining and laugh-out-loud stories, while highlighting intensely specific experiences of the Black community and addressing universal topics. JoMarie Payton is back in her role, voicing the family matriarch, Suga Mama.
Payton is one of America’s most beloved television mothers, starring on Family Matters as Harriet Winslow for all but the show’s final season. She’s been in the game for 50 years and remains one of the most in-demand actresses of today.
Ahead of the Disney+ release, Shadow and Act spoke with the legend on what to expect in Season 2. She also dished on why she’s fine if Family Matters doesn’t return for a reboot, talked about the impact of both shows in not just Black culture but overall American culture, and gave insight on her longevity in the business.
The post JoMarie Payton On Why She’s Not Interested In A ‘Family Matters’ Reboot, Season 2 Of ‘The Proud Family: Louder And Prouder’ And More appeared first on Shadow And Act.
S&A: Congratulations on Season 2. Obviously, with the new season, there was a desire for the show to return. Why do you think that old and new fans of the show yearned for it to make a comeback? How are you handling the reception for this revival?
JP: It’s back because it wasn’t finished. When you don’t finish stuff, it has to come back for you to finish it. We’re coming back with the message that we put out over 20 years ago. That was a good message put out there by some really talented people, and we’re happy to be back now delivering new messages and putting polish on old messages, making you laugh, love and learn. I’m excited to be back with the beautiful cast that we have and feeling blessed that we have the same writers and producers.
S&A: We’re excited to have you back and Bruce Smith and Ralph Farquhar previously said that they were excited this time around because they said they were interested in exploring deeper subject matter and being able to push the envelope. And now that you guys have a second season, what themes and topics are you happy to showcase?
JP: It’s some of everything that you can think about, especially things that were taboo years ago that people kind of peeped at, and we’re making them open their eyes very big. We are paying attention to discrimination, and we have a beautiful Juneteenth episode that it’s absolutely outstanding that I know you guys are going to be able to appreciate. We deal with racial injustice. We deal with a lot of different things on another level that we couldn’t deal with two decades ago, so we’re excited about that. We are pushing the envelope, but we have the ability with the talent that we have, and the writers that we have, to bring that to you [and] to make you open your eyes and your heart to be receptive to some of the things that are important enough for us to talk about. We are hoping that in these new episodes that we have, people are just loving. And we know that they’re loving them because we get the mail, we get the responses and all, and it’s saving lives. I believe The Proud Family is actually saving lives. We’re keeping people out of the space of not wanting to live, and you have to be able to live it to function. We are letting people know that it’s OK to be who you are, where you are, with who you love, and what you believe–and that’s what the show can do. And I think that’s why people love it so much. They were happy to have us come back and have us be the ones to deliver these messages that are so important.
S&A: You have a lot of guest stars this season. You worked with Gabrielle Union and Anthony Anderson. Was there anyone in particular who you were the most excited to work with?
JP: I know a lot of them, and I’ve been in this business almost 50 years, so I’ve worked with quite a few of them, and I was excited when we worked with Lizzo last season. Anthony I knew, but for all of them, I’m more excited that they’re excited about working on this show. I don’t think there’s anybody that casting asked to come in and be a guest on this show that has turned it down, because I think they’re loving the fact that they’re part of something that’s really special and that’s groundbreaking on a lots of levels. We’ve always said what we needed to say and what we feel and we don’t apologize for it. We’ve just gotten a little out and prouder about it. We’re just happy that we are in that space where we say, ‘OK, it needs to be dealt with.’ We’re going to deal with it.
S&A: What about Lizzo were you so excited to have her participate in the show?
JP: Well, I was excited because she decided to do it, for one thing, and she came off so good.
