ABFF 2020 Exclusive: KJ Smith On Her Lead Role In ‘The Available Wife’
Currently playing at the first online edition of the prestigious American Black Film Festival from MegaMind Productions is Tressa Azarel Smallwood's original narrative feature, The Available Wife, starring KJ Smith.
Based on the novel “The Available Wife“ written by author Carla Pennington, the film explores when a successful music CEO gets caught up in lies, affairs and power, she is forced to face the dark motives of her secret lover.
Directed by Jamal Hill, the film is a romantic original feature written by Tressa Azarel Smallwood (BET's All In), Jamal Hill (Deuces) and Kyjuan Cleveland. The riveting drama centering on the collision of money, affairs, power and lies stars KJ Smith (Sistas, The Family Business) as 'Nicole Wright,' a beautiful and successful music CEO whose life is about to crumble in front of her. While having an affair with the sexy artist on the rise who promises her everything, 'Kingston' portrayed by Terayle Hill (Step Up: High Water), Nicole learns the hard way that looks can be deceiving and his motives are as dark as the secrets she keeps. Clifton Powell (Ray) and Roger Guenveur Smith (Dope) round out the cast in the 100 minute gem produced by Smallwood and her MegaMind Productions along with Audrea Topps Harjo.
Khaneshia “KJ” Smith, who plays the high-powered attorney Andi Barnes on BET’s Sisters, the Tallahassee, FL native is continuing to rack up some impressive roles to date. With the guest spots she’s amassed in the last few years, most recently she appeared in Tyler Perry episode of Netflix’s BlackAF as well as a guest role on All Rise and a supporting role The Family Business, where she came back as Sasha Duncan.
In speaking with BlackFilmandTV.com, Smith spoke about her, working with Terayle Hill and her upcoming projects.
Besides Sistas, and your guest roles on other show, what made you say yes to this?
KJ Smith: I actually said yes to the supporting role of this film, which was like the best friend role. When the person who was originally cast as the lead couldn't do it, they were like, “Wait, you could do this, you can lead this movie." And I was like, "Yeah, I can. I can absolutely lead this movie." This isn't my first time leading anything so I certainly can. It happened just by happenstance, to be honest. Much like my role with Sistas, I was actually cast in a different role and then I had the opportunity to lead a film. I love the subject matter. Basically The Available Wife is a rags to riches story. It's all from a female perspective. Things aren't pretty. Things get really, really ugly for my character. Her name is Nicole in the film, and she has made some really tough choices and some that are compromising to her dignity and are compromising to her integrity and her family and everything that she was taught to believe in. It's a grittier, darker side of role that I've never played before. I wanted to try it out. I wanted to give it a whirl. There’s a running joke right now where it's like, “If Kj is not crying then I don't know what we're doing." I wanted to not be a victim for once in a role.
Had you read the book?
KJ Smith: I had not read the book. Honestly, the casting went so fast that I didn't have the opportunity. I was cast and then I was on a plane. So when I was cast, I had not read the book.
How was working opposite Terayle Hill?
KJ Smith: Everyone was phenomenal. Terayle gave me 100% and not only was he a dope cast mate to me but there were times where I would be a little tired or something and he would be my biggest motivation. He would say things like, "You got this. You got this. Come on, let's go!” Not only was he a great actor to work with because he gave 100%, but he also was an incredible friend to me while we were shooting. I was going through a lot during that time as well. He was just an incredible friend and he's so talented. In the film, you see some of his music, and he's actually a hip hop artist. So it was nice that he had some of his original music in the film as well.
Was it challenging for you knowing that you’re in most of the scenes and you have to carry the film since you are the lead as opposed to the supporting work you’ve done in other projects?
KJ Smith: I think it is less daunting now. I think if I would have done that film this year, it would not have been as daunting because when you're number one, when you're the lead then you set the tone of the movie or show that you're doing and I'm a very high energy person. I love to have fun. I love to talk to people. I love to talk to everyone from the PA so the background artists, and everyone on set. At that time, we all are friends. We have to be dogs because we are all making something happen together.
The guest star projects I've done, that's easy to me. That's clockwork. I recently did BlackAF. I recently did All Rise. I've done Dynasty. I've done all these recurring guest star roles and comparatively, it's easier because you go in, you do your work and you leave. When you're leading, you create an atmosphere. You create an energy and everyone is depending on you. So it has forced me to step up as a leader in so many more respects in my entire life. So I appreciate the opportunity. I appreciate the opportunity that MegaMinds Productions allowed for me and they even allow for me to have a producer credit for my role in this particular film.
What was your takeaway in working with Jamal that you can take on to your next project?
KJ Smith: Jamal actually told me when I was shooting this film that he wanted me to embody an animal. He said, "Have you ever done animal practice?" I was like, “No." Now I've gone to every acting school you can think of in Los Angeles. I have done the seminars. I've watched the sessions, and the master sessions on TV. He I said, "Well, I want you to do some animal work with your character.” "What is that?,” I said.
He said, "I want you to decide what animal you want to embody in this role.” What does that mean? He had to break it down even more, saying “If you were a lion in this role, I want you to find moments to be that lion to embody what that looks like. I want to see it when you're performing." I had to go home, do my research. We were in the thick of it. We were already shooting by this time. So I had to go home. I was like, “Who am I and I was going to embody that.
Congrats on Season 2 for Sistas. How did it feel to know that season one ended and you have job security with season two.
KJ Smith: I felt like I was on top of the world. I have a lot of friends in this industry, and this career is uncertain regardless. You never know what's going to happen. You don't know what's going to happen in life. But particularly in this career, a lot of people don't pursue it because of the job security. There is none. One day, your co-star quite and then the show's over. The producer, and the showrunner can say they want to do another thing, and then you don't have a job. It's zero job security in this industry. But I think when you book a show, there's a part of your brain that says, "Wow, okay, at least for this time. I have something that I can rely on." Then when this pandemic happened, it terrified all of us. To work for somebody who has the agency over his entire production is one inspiring. I'm on top of the wall because this train only stops when Tyler says it stops and we love Tyler so much. I tell everybody I'm not leaving. I am going to be on Sisters until Tyler says he doesn’t want to do it anymore
What’s coming up for you?
KJ Smith: Right now I'm working on my own production. I was able to do the project while we were in COVID. We went through regulations. I learned from the best so everyone got tested before coming to set. It’s a movie called Black Excellence that we're going to submit to all the film festivals. I just produced that this recently. It’s a short film and it's amazing. It tells the story of basically bringing the black family back home, bringing the family back at the dinner table and communicating efficiently and effectively and breaking generational curses and breaking relationship toxicity between the family and validating each other. We don't get that. We don't expect validation from the outside world. It covers colorism, it covers everything. It covers everything. So in a short amount of time, in a 10 minute frame, it's mostly a visual product project. But it's so beautiful. So I'm able to put on the my producer hat now, because of the position that I'm in. I'm able to produce the content that I want to produce. So that's been incredible.
I’m also increasing my toolbox. I've been taking singing lessons, because I've always been scared to do it. But now we're in a pandemic and I have the time to actually invest in that part of my life as well. I've just been enjoying being creative in other avenues. It's been great editing videos, talking to my relatives on FaceTime and getting closer to my family. But work wise, I don't know what's next. I've actually been auditioning, which is cool. I didn't expect that there will be a lot of auditions, but apparently they're saying that we're going to get back to work in September in October. So I've had some opportunities. Some producers have reached out to me about projects that they want me in that’s coming up. So that's really exciting. I'm going to enjoy the downtime while I have it because all through this entire pandemic, I've been working. I've been working like everyone else like and it’s great to be off.
What's a good reason for folks to check out The Available Wife?
KJ Smith: Besides the fact that I'm in it, it tells a really dope story about what it's like being in this industry. It basically shows the ugly side of being in the recording industry. I think people will take away some life lessons from it. When I got into Hollywood people were scared for me. They were like, "Oh no, you don't want to do that. There are bad people out there. There are people that are going to take advantage of you. They are this and they're that and they warned me against all these things. I honestly was blessed to steer clear of those things because of people's warnings, but everybody doesn't steer clear. Some people feel like that's what they have to do to make it and it's a tale for people to see that you don't have to make these choices in order to make it in this industry. Yes, the industry is hard, but you want to do it the right way. Otherwise, karma is going to come for you.