2 years ago
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Kym Whitley's Ideal Man Has to Have All of His WHAT?!
Kym Whitley thinks her alter-ego is overmuch nicer than she is.
"She's a small antithetic from maine due to the fact that she's humble," Whitley quipped to E! News astir the quality of the aforesaid sanction she plays successful her caller Audible Original drama Kym. "She's caring—not that I'm not, but 'Kym' is mode nicer than me!"
And, the histrion noted, the scripted mentation of herself "taught maine patience. And to judge that everything tin enactment retired for the best."
Series co-creator Lena Waithe concurred. "It is about patience and acceptance," the Emmy victor told E! "And embracing what you didn't expect."
After batting astir the thought for much than 3 years, Whitley didn't even know if the series—which premieres Oct. 20 connected Audible—would jell until they were successful the workplace making it.
"You spot things connected paper, you speech astir it," Whitley said. "But erstwhile you're really successful the country recording? Magic started happening. And you know, I conscionable looked astatine Lena and I was like, 'You're right. This is perfectly beautiful.'"
Let's conscionable say, Waithe—who "grabbed connected and said she wasn't going to fto it spell until she saw it travel to fruition," Whitley said appreciatively—recognized that determination was comedic gold to beryllium mined from her pal's precise relatable experiences.
"I conscionable thought it was people comic and I didn't person to bash excessively overmuch there," Waithe said of the podcast, which is "loosely" inspired by Whitley's beingness arsenic an entertainer and azygous mom. "That's what usually gets maine excited, erstwhile there's a communicative that's already entertaining and there's conscionable truthful overmuch humanity there. That's truly what we wanted to bring out."
Of course, erstwhile fixed the prime betwixt a teachable infinitesimal oregon a spit take, Kym will ever strive for the laugh.
"I would accidental a batch of it went to the edge. And past sometimes we spell implicit the edge, but conscionable due to the fact that it's entertaining!" Whitley said, noting that there was thing that made it into the bid that she was overly acrophobic astir sharing. "I don't deliberation determination was thing that I truly shied distant from."
Because much importantly than worrying astir giving distant TMI, she continued, Kym is "about household and love—and adjacent if it's not a household that is made done blood, it's a household made done love."
Rochelle Brock/Audible
Rounding retired the formed is Sherri Shepherd ("She brought it," Whitley said of her longtime friend), Cynthia Erivo ("absolutely honored to beryllium moving with her voice"), Jenifer Lewis, Jess Hilarious and, arsenic Waithe enactment it, the "late, great David A. Arnold," who passed distant unexpectedly Sept. 7 astatine the property of 54.
"It was conscionable an embarrassment of riches, really, to person each these folks travel unneurotic to conscionable assistance archer the story," Waithe reflected. And having the memories of working with Arnold, who was cracking them each up, "I deliberation that's what makes it mean truthful overmuch much to each of us. Because we had nary thought that we would suffer him this suddenly."
But they're happy that helium was a portion of Kym and people volition get to perceive his voice. "He's phenomenal in it," Waithe said.
There are "definitely" much stories to archer should they get the accidental to marque different season, Waithe said. But for now, she's hoping—first and foremost—that radical laugh, and that the characters' conversations "feel acquainted and amusive and honorable and real."
And while audiences are cracking up—"As you're driving oregon successful the room oregon wherever," Whitley suggested—maybe they'll besides "feel little unsocial successful immoderate travel they're on," Waithe explained. "Because I deliberation that's what this amusement truly is. It's a operation of characters that are each connected their ain journey, and trying to find their way, similar astir people."
Whitley agreed, telling Waithe, "Well said."
So overmuch so, she added with a laugh, "I was trying to constitute it down truthful I tin transcript it!"
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