Egypt Sherrod & Terri J. Vaughn Explain ‘Life, Love, Soul’

According to media personality Egypt Sherrod and actress Terri J. Vaughn, Noel Calloway‘s drama, Life, Love, Soul, won the Audience Choice Award at the 2011 UrbanWorld Film Festival because it’s a story that viewers can relate to. The movie tells the story of a talented young man named Roosevelt, who struggles to regain control of his life after the death of his mother and brother force him to live with his estranged father. The mandatory reunion leads Roosevelt to revisit past mistakes, while also making new ones in the process of reconciling with his father.

In select theaters on April 13, Life, Love, Soul is a tragedy to triumph story that deals with teen pregnancy, alcoholism and rising to the top in the face of adversity. BlackEnterprise.com chats with two of the film’s stars, Egypt Sherrod and Terri J. Vaughn about why the film is authentic, working with co-star Tami Roman of Basketball Wives fame and being a working mom on set.

What do you want people to take away from the Life, Love, Soul?

Vaughn: It’s a slice of life. It’s a real story about what’s going on in the lives of youths and how our families deal with it. It’s always great to be able to tell our stories, because we have so many so, I’m happy that I can take my nieces and my nephews and my son to the movie and they’re able to see reflections of themselves up on screen. And the other th

ing is how big forgiveness is in family. I hope that young people learn to make better choices and decisions for themselves and just as a parent has to learn to be able to roll with the punches with the mistakes that our kids make sometimes, and even in disappointment and being angry, that we still have to be there for them.

Terri, your character in the movie seemed to allow her anger to take precedence over instruction for her daughter. How would you approach that in real life, since you are a mother?

Vaughn: You have to think of where her anger was coming from. It was more disappointment and that’s how we saw her deal with it–by being angry, but it was really based on disappointment. For me, I would definitely say disappointment and possibly even angry but that’s a first reaction response and I think that once it settles in then that acceptance of the situation comes in being there for my daughter. I would think it would probably go something like that for me.

Egypt, your character was at odds with the young man’s father who wasn’t really around for his children but blamed that on the mom. However, it kind of seemed like he was making excuses. What advice do you have for fathers dealing with mothers who have cut them out of their kids lives?

Sherrod: I related with this particular plot because I dealt with the same thing growing up as far as my biological father. His story is he wanted to be

there and of course there’s two sides to every story, but I firmly believe that if you love your child then no one can keep you from your child; it’s not a matter of the mother not letting you be around. A father and a mother, it takes two to tango and they made this child so no one is able to keep you from your baby if that’s truly what you want. I felt it was a sob story and that’s why my character didn’t take too kindly to the character because it was a low down dirty excuse and to me it’s an easy way out.

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Egypt, what lessons were you able to pick up from some of the seasoned actors on set as a new actress?

Sherrod: Terri and I didn’t get to spend much time shooting together. She came and did her scenes and I came and did my scenes… I got an opportunity to work with Jamie Hector. He’s also a friend. I respect him immensely but what I got from him, if anything, was commit to the character, own it and that everyone is going to interpret the role differently. There’s no right or wrong way to do it so long as it’s authentic.

How was it working with Tami Roman, who most know from Basketball Wives and for having a temper?

Vaughn: I didn’t work with her but she did a great job in the movie.

Sherrod: My experience with Tami is the complete opposite from what people have seen on Basketball Wives. I think she’s a sweetheart. She’s very direct, very in your face, almost like a Cadbury Egg–hard exterior but soft and mushy on the inside. She’s very easy to work with and extremely professional.

Terri, you were actually pregnant on set but hid that from the cast and crew. How was it keeping that secret?

Vaughn: When we started shooting, nobody knew that I was pregnant and I was keeping it under wraps because I didn’t want that to be an issue. I didn’t want people to think that I wouldn’t be able to deliver. But because my character drank so much, I was very adamant about making sure that there was no alcohol in our glasses and I finally had to admit to our director Noel [Calloway] that I was pregnant. Nobody knew I was pregnant and he kept it a secret for me.

Sherrod: I can relate to that because this season of Property Virgins that’s airing now–the show that I host–I was six, seven and eight months pregnant through the entire thing, and everybody just thought that I was very large, like I gained a lot of weight [Laughs

].

What advice do you ladies have for working moms who are expecting for balancing pregnancy with their careers because there’s a big perception that people will treat them differently because of their condition?

Sherrod: I just had my little girl, she’s seven-weeks-old, and I continued everything. My biggest fear was exactly that, that people would discriminate against me because I was pregnant; that I wouldn’t get opportunities because they thought I couldn’t handle it; so I really pushed myself and it got to the point where I realized I was the only one pushing. The people that I worked with were more concerned, like, “Slow down, girl,” so I would say just because you’re pregnant–definitely take care of yourself, get all your sleep, take your vitamins and do all the things your doctor tells you to do, but don’t put limits on yourself. Also, don’t think that everyone around you is going to give you the help because you’re pregnant. Guess what? It’s a part of life!

Life, Love, Soul, comes out April 13 in seven cities: Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York , New Jersey and D.C. Click here for more info.