We cast her as somebodys girlfriend and it was a one-shot deal. The audience decides what really lives with them, what really sticks with them.. Of course Sinbad, but Glynn Turman, Lou Myersjust a witty, savvy group of people. I thought that they were very corny. I thought @HillmanGrad was cool and a lot of people dug it. She really found that activism voice, which was something that was very reflective of my personal life. Youre not together anymore [but] you still have to go to work and be on set. Guy: We had so much fun off-camera that I only remember episodes based on what was going on in our lives during that time. Then they got into a fight with them and they all got thrown into jail together. Guy: After we did the reading, I said, Are yall going to do that? A compromise was made and the writers added a scene where Dwayne tries to talk Whitley out of the marriage the night before. When actor and producer Lena Waithe first joined Instagram in 2011, her handle was @hillmangrad. While they didnt plan it, the two both landed at Hangin With Mr. Cooper. Tomei reportedly told Manhattan Magazine (via Glamour UK) in 2009 that she's . It could be because they're ready to move on to other projects, or they may have creative differences with the show's producers. The show was so important, and I didnt want to see things go the way they do with many shows and casts. The amount of press and paparazzi that hounded and followed themthey were 20-year-old kids. I can hardly believe that its really happening. The little insulated group at Carsey-Werner and A Different World was such a female-friendly and Black-friendly environment, and the world outside was racist and misogynist to say the least. We had nothing like that. That was October of 1986. Im not really one to suffer fools, so I became more determined to create my own work environment. He became more sophisticated throughout the years, and his look needed to reflect that. Im going to make something happen with this opportunity, I really am. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission. I think she had a conversation with Mr. Cosby, and then he had conversations with [producers] Marcy Carsey, Tom Werner, and Caryn Mandabach. Under Allens leadership, A Different World remained comedic, but no topic was off-limits. From left: Sinbad; Tomei; Jada Pinkett Smith as Lena James. If you recall, the now 57-year-old actress appeared in a couple of episodes in season seven of the long-running series in 1996 . That was sort of a clue [that my character wasnt coming back]. In the show, Hardisons Dwayne Wayne quickly developed a crush on Denise. Waithe: The people that walked on that set have touched or impacted or lifted up others in a way that a lot of people dont even get to see. By season six, Freddie, Dwayne, Kimberly, Ron, and Whitley had all graduated from Hillman, and a new group of students joined the cast in main and recurring roles. Neither the musical director nor the casting director knew that they hired the same person. But Joanne Curley Kerner, she was one of our producers, and she has the other pair. Regina Hicks was a PA on A Different World. Bell: One of my favorite nights was the night that Magic Johnson broke the all-time assist record. He didnt have a drivers license, so I would have to take him in to work every dayto the job I auditioned for and didnt get. A Different World is an American sitcom television series and a spin-off of The Cosby Show.It aired for six seasons on NBC from September 24, 1987 to July 9, 1993. So when we decided we wanted to meet Whitleys mother and we knew we wanted Diahann [to play her], I literally drove up to her house in Beverly Hills and said, You need to come do this show. And Lena Horne, similarly, Id known her all my life. Little did I know how truly tough and oppressive the world would be outside. by Anonymous reply 4 November 8, 2020 1:06 AM When Debbie Allen took over as producer she had Tomei fired. Guy: [Ceci] had Whitley down. I was like, Baby, please! The second please was a please for hersay your line, say your line, because Im out right now, and this is just going to get worse and worse if we have to do more takes. Rebecca Miller's 'She Came to Me' had its world premiere at 2023's Berlin Film Festival and . Meg Ryan was initially cast as Maggie but decided to pursue her film career; Marisa Tomei took her place. She was singing, I was dancing. Has trouble with money and grades. Davidson, 28, co-wrote the screenplay with director Judd Apatow and Dave Sirus. Its an adjustment, and one that I wasnt really seeking. In 1986, She . Yvette Lee Bowser met Gina Prince-Bythewood and brought her in to become an [apprentice]. I got to find a new house. I moved out to Burbank, but that was crazy because I was the Black guy with the sports car and the cops would follow me home and people would complain about my music when I didnt even have shit plugged in. I felt a responsibility to do that. On September 24, 1987, A Different World aired its wildly popular pilot, whose ratings surpassed every other program except The Cosby Show. Off camera, the actor fell in love with rocker Lenny Kravitz and the two were expecting. I mean, I was fan kind of thrilled. It was so well written, and it was all about listening to each other. Marisa Tomei is one of the most memorable guest stars from Seinfeld. But it was a joy to get to know her and work with herto see her grow and help her with weird cartoon auditions. Lewis and Bowser both left in season five. Yvette Lee Bowser (writer and producer): I didnt have aspirations to write for television, but in watching The Cosby Show I felt like there was an opportunity for a voice like mine and a life experience like mine. Something told me to stop and go over, so I did. We were crisscrossing the country, and during a break I met with Susan Fales and Debbie Allen. You cant tell him hes not going to win, but theres a vulnerability to him as well. She was like my second mom. Parade. Allen: I used to cook for [the cast and crew] to keep that family feel. Tomei found her way into the Cosby Show spinoff, A Different World, playing Lisa Bonet's eccentric roommate, and then moved on to act in movies shortly thereafter. In the 34 years since its debut, A Different World has become one of televisions most impactful shows, inspiring everything from dissertations and lectures to Halloween costumes and social media fan accountsall while influencing countless young people to attend college, specifically HBCUs. Marisa Tomei followed up As the World Turns in 1986 with a role on the sitcom A Different World as Maggie Lauten during the first season. The seminal Cosby Show spinoff was developed by Bill Cosbyan indelible fact. On A Different World, Denise's personality got lost and later on we saw them do it right with Freddie but she wasn't the lead. And he said, Thats a messed up question to ask you. I said, Yeah, it is. Marisa Tomei was born on December 4, 1964, in New York from a highly educated family. His grand gesture of interrupting the wedding stayed in the script, though. Summer: The girl that was my competition lived in England and Debbie asked if she could stay with me. We made her a lawyer and [Cree] hated it. Her greatest fear was tripping up while receiving an Oscar - which she did. Fales-Hill: Im not somebody who beats her chest about oppression, but when you see the way certain white shows at the same time frame were assessed versus the way we were assessed, it had everything to do with color. Hardison: It was tough at the end. Summer: I fucking live for wardrobe [and] Ceci was heaven on earth. They got married and she would go make Love & Basketball and he would go make Dancing in September and Biker Boyz. Allen wanted to keep the dynamic of having a white girl in a black college, but after one season, Tomei's character disappeared too. Originally, this was a Spin-Off of The Cosby Show: Denise Huxtable (Lisa Bonet) goes to college. Hardison introduced himself to everyone in the room, one by one, then recited each persons name back to them in reverse order. Kadeem Hardison (Dwayne Wayne): I had just finished filming School Daze [with Jasmine Guy and Darryl M. Bell], and Id come to L.A. to visit some friends. She's an Oscar-winning actress, has been in the business for nearly four decades, and at 54, there's no sign of her stopping for anyone or anything. Debbie would go to games and Kadeem and I would join. I just didnt know it was a thing. Its remarkable to know that you can still have that kind of effect on someone 30-plus years after the fact. Living Single is also where she met Reggie Rock Bythewood. Turman: I know what comes with being young and famous and rich. She was seven years old and she didnt tell her parents. Ad Choices. Bell: Lisa doesnt get enough credit for A Different World. Kate Hudson, Matthew McConaughey, and more look back on 20 years of love ferns and that yellow dress. (Because minors could only work a limited number of hours, she wasnt allowed to attend all of the rehearsals.) So for all the time that we were on A Different World, we were like the Jack Nicholson of the Clippers. Originally, the show was about three women. . Hardison: Patti and I were close because she played my mom. We would do all of that stuff. Among them were the nerdy but confident Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison); silly playboy Ronald Ron Johnson (Darryl M. Bell); bougie Southern belle Whitley Gilbert (Jasmine Guy); and free spirit Freddie Brooks (Cree Summer). . We bounce well off of each other, so when the writers saw that, they started putting it into the script. Allen: We birthed Jenifer Lewis on A Different World. She would go on to create some of the shows most recognizable looks, from Freddies texture-heavy boho ensembles to Whitleys polished suits. [Though] I have to say, I witnessed a great deal of resentment towards Bill Cosbys power, and Marcy and Tom. THATS WHEN I CAME UP WITH THE ACCENT FOR WHITLEY.. I thought of myself as a film actor. She had auditioned for the role of Jaleesa during the first round of casting and was called back when the show decided to add more characters. I asked if I could audition and they told me no for about three months, saying, We love what youre doing in the Broadway show, just keep singing and dancing. The tour ended and I had one more unemployment check left. And she had a nice-nasty relationship with Jasmine Guy's Whitley. Allen: There were a lot of politics going on behind the scenes, and none of us will ever truly know all of it. To have that kind of attention on you at 20-something years of age, it was different. Several students asked us, Why dont we see anybody whos from a mixed marriage on your show? Im from a mixed marriage myself, but I didnt think people wanted to talk about that or see it. Why did Marisa Tomei leave A Different World? I thought everything was just over. Other characters, such as jocular dorm director Walter Oakes (Sinbad) and grumpy on-campus restaurant owner Vernon Gaines (Lou Myers), helped round out the picture of college life. Despite the shake-up, the show lived on with leading man Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison) and his flip-up glasses and Whitley Gilbert (Jasmine Guy) and her whiny southern . That was everything, because we already had Diahann Carroll. Were always being told what we are and what were allowed to be, and on A Different World, we just were. Fales-Hill: It was bittersweet. Lewis: The supporting actors that came through our show were just insane. Honestly, when I look back, if a girls got to have a first love, he was the blueprint. Summers audition experience paralleled that of Hardisons and Bells. by Anonymous reply 5 November 8, 2020 1:06 AM Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Tomei: There's . I was like, Damn, how can I be cool in this episode too? But I realized then how important my character was to show those sides, those layers of us, as Black people. I pitched the idea for episode four, Those Who CantTutor. Dwayne is tutoring Denise and gets stuck in the dorm. With the success of the show came a level of fame that, while moderate in comparison to the visibility of young actors in todays more diverse, social mediafueled industry, was an adjustment for the cast. She started crying and shaking and we were like, All right, honey, dont die on us. But she was like, You just dont understandIm a doctor now, Im married to a lawyer. She and Lisa are incredible women, and they were so much fun to work with. There were some things that were really beautiful that Whitley wore. Hardison starred alongside Lisa Bonet in the series, which was a spinoff of The Cosby Show. So I didnt see any of the episodes for a decade or so, [until] they started streaming and I was like, Let me check these out.. Costume department polaroids of cast members Cree Summer, Darryl Bell, and costume designer Ceci (in a Hillman cheerleading uniform). (Marisa Tomei) and Whitley's sidekick, Millie, along with the first and second dorm moms Stevie (Loretta Devine) (season 1), and Lettie (seasons 1-2), respectively, and post season 5 . Marisa Tomei made her acting debut in an American television soap opera As the World Turns in 1983. Clockwise from left: Guy, Bell, and Allen in makeup; Hardison, Guy, and Summer behind the scenes; clockwise from left, Bell, Lou Myers, Summer, Glynn Turman, Charnele Brown, Lewis, Hardison, Sinbad, and Guy; Bonet wraps Lewis in a hug. It was my decision [to leave] because I was working so much, doing too many things. Bell: Our show came on the air under Brandon Tartikoff [who left NBC in 1991]. Bonet subsequently left A Different World but rejoined The Cosby Show after the birth of her daughter, Zo. The more we got to know each other, the more the bohemian aspects of my upbringing started to show up more and more in the character. She is currently 56 years old. A Different Worlds enduring impact far outweighs the disappointment. The part of Maggie was played by Marisa Tomei, who would go on to big screen acting fame for her role as Mona Lisa Vito in the 1992 Oscar-winning comedy My Cousin Vinny . Diahann Carroll was my mothers best friend. I think that was a real benefitto be able to emotionally infuse the characters with what we were going through together. Bell: I think there were three of us, maybe four, that went to network for the part of Dwayne Wayne. Then they would make changes and come back to us. A real-life plot twist occurred when Bonet left after the first season. So, we came back to work and were looking around and weve got new folks. Fans loved watching her journey and enjoyed the hip vibe imbued in the show with the rest of the cast. When the show wrapped, Hardison was given one of the two pairs of Dwaynes glasses from the set. He said it happened when the show was on a summer hiatus. Some of her notable roles include As the World Turns, A Different World, My Cousin Vinny, In The Bedroom, The Wrestler, What Women Want, Anger Management, Wild Hogs, Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Avengers: Endgame.She is also involved in theater works like Daughters, Wait Until Dark, Top . And she said, I do! I just said, Baby, please. That wasnt [Jasmines] cue, and I know what a boss she is, what a pro she is. He shows up and hes not the guy that she wrote about. Along with The Cosby Show, it laid the groundwork for shows like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Family Matters, and Living Singleitself created by Bowserand featured numerous Black actors long before they were famous, including Halle Berry, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Keenen Ivory Wayans.