I had the pleasure of speaking with Ken Lawson or Ken L as some people know him from the hit shows
In The House and
The Parkers. We had a
long and fun conversation. He's so personable and down-to-earth. Ken released a
vlog last week in response to the recent news of Maia Campbell, once his fellow actor on the show
In The House. In the conversation we talk about Maia, pressures actors face in the industry, off-beat stuff and what's going on in his professional life.
There was a call for some of Maia's colleagues or fellow actors to either actually step up and say something or reach out and do something to try and help her in her situation-especially people who worked with her. It seemed like almost instantaneously, you were the only person that stepped up. Some people felt like you used this to shine off her situation. What are your thoughts?
Ken: Well, actually I've been told to do another one but um my situation is I...(
pauses to gather thoughts) I don't even know where to begin. It's a long story. I used to work with her, going through all the situations in her personal life... Um, you know, I came onto the show- I was an addition to the show. The show was already created. Debbie Allen was on the show and they were doing their thing. When it came down to my character, I was just a guest star. I wasn't there for no regular or nothing like that. I was doing a good job and they brought me back....but um me and Maia kicked it, hung out- you know and got to know her. We were going out shopping, drinking...just doing things that you would do with your co-workers. As it gets to the very last seasons that's when they brought me onto the show as a serious regular and that's when we got tight. I wouldn't say she was like my sister but she was someone I admired. I mean everyone wanted to be with Tiffany Warren (Maia's character on the show) (laughs) for me to actually be blessed with the opportunity to work with her and then to continue to work with her after those few years that went by it was like a blessing like DAMN! I did scenes with Maia Campbell! (laughs) As I started to hear this stuff, I started going to these internet sites and someone was telling me to type in her name and check this thing out and a picture came up I was like nah dawg that's photoshopped. You know, I was like trying to get that out of my head like damn dawg I been hearing some things from some guys in the entertainment industry, like damn dawg are you serious?! There were times we used to be on the set and right when we started to end, right when the season was ending- there was an incident where she just swore up and down that the cook poisoned her food, she's not eating, not coming to work unless that chef or that cook is out. There were like three or four more episodes to tape-she just bugged out; it was this big ordeal. That's when people started telling me "
There she goes trippin' again." (phone rings- he takes the call; apologizes and continues) Sometimes she would lock herself in the dressing room, you know-and it tripped me out. I didn't know, you know what I'm sayin? To see what's going on with Maia, it's a tragedy for me. For people to have this understanding that she is this hoe or crackhead or things like that without understanding the underlaying side of her life....you know it's disturbing. That fact that she suffers from Bipolar Disorder and some people don't understand that and can't even fathom what it is, you know, but they're gonna....she's in the hood. She's around individuals that don't have the understanding of her mental condition and therefore it's like she's being taken advantage of and it's making me feel like damn dude- like I know the world is cold but you know I'm not saying celebrities are above and beyond all these different people but damn these are people who help influence a generation and for you to treat your gold, your diamond in the rough like that?! Like I said on the vlog, I'm kinda speechless.
(click the "Read More" after the pics below)
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