Lala Anthony has had a near-ubiquitous presence on some of the most popular shows from the culture over the last few years. Now, the media-personality-turned-actress is adding a biographical portrayal to her ever-growing list of IMDB entries.
The actress is joining the cast of Wu-Tang: An American Saga tonight as Tracey Waples, an assertive Def Jam executive who was an early believer in the rap conglomerate. For Anthony, playing a real person, who she actually knew from her days as a radio and music television personality, was a welcome challenge.
“I actually knew [her] in my time working in the industry,” she said of Waples. “So it’s…a little more nerve-wracking because you’re creating this character based on someone you know, you know what I mean? And you’re trying to do that justice.”
Thankfully, Anthony was afforded time to work with Waples directly to get a solid sense of her mindset when discovering the Wu and how she’d approach certain situations.
“RZA made sure that she and I spoke and I got an understanding of, ‘what were you thinking in this moment?’ or, ‘how did you feel in this moment?’” she said. “And that was really helpful in creating the moments and the character. And I was excited. I’ve been a fan of the show for a long time and RZA, I just think he’s an amazing creative mind.”
And for Anthony, an admitted Wu-Tang fan, being on the set to tell the stories of one of her favorite childhood groups was a welcome opportunity.
“I was a Wu-Tang fan. I was a fan when Meth did his own thing, when ODB did his own thing, when Ghostface did his own thing,” she said. “I mean, there were so many ways to go because there were so many of them [in the group] that you found who you became a fan of. You’re always going to like someone in the group, and you became fans of those people.”
But as always, Wu-Tang isn’t the only show you can catch Anthony on. She’s already been spotted on Freeform’s Grown-Ish and Starz’s BMF in just the past few months. And she has even more exciting projects coming down the pipeline.
“I’m going to start season two of BMF at the top of the year, which is a series I’m really excited to be a part of,” she said of the show. “Coming off of Power with 50 and now being able to work with him on BMF has been exciting.”
“Also, I’m currently about to start shooting Eddie Murphy and Jonah Hill’s new movie in LA in the next week or two. So I’m also really excited about that.”
With Anthony’s charmed career, we’re positive she has yet another hit on her hands with both upcoming projects.
You can catch her making her big Wu-Tang debut tonight on Hulu streaming.