Jasmine Guy Is In A Different World

The 1990s television star returns to Atlanta for her directorial debut.

by Nicole D. Smith

September 3, 2008

J asmine Guy, best known for her role as Whitley Gilbert on A Different World, is all about details. In her calm demeanor, despite it being opening night for her directorial debut, she softly explained the ribbon on her cropped jean jacket. "These are Zulu letters that they make in South Africa to benefit the AIDS orphans," she says. "I'm a member of the group called ANSA - Artists for a New South Africa."

Guy says she wasn't nervous at all about the public viewing the first play she's ever directed: For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf .  She sat down with Atlanta Woman on a cushioned bench outside of Stage Two at the 14th Street Playhouse. As she straightened her blue, silk BCBGMAXAZRIA floor-length dress, Guy answered all the questions with honesty and sincerity about directing the remake of the 1975 controversial stage play.

Atlanta Woman : Are you nervous tonight?

Jasmine Guy: I am so excited! But, I was nervous Wednesday. Wednesday we had a dress rehearsal, and it was our first one for friends. But, no. Today I'm just excited because it's good that all of my crew has flown in - my sister, my friends. They surprised me yesterday. They just showed up at my rehearsal.

AW : What's your greatest acting experience?

Guy: The first thing that comes to mind is a little movie I did for CBS that's called Stomping at the Savoy. Debbie Allen directed it. Beverly Sawyer wrote it. And I just loved the time, the genre, that old '30s and '40s period. But I really loved my character [Alice], and her relationship with her husband.  I thought that it closely resembled how I really feel about things and [life.] Usually I'm being so different than myself that it's not touching my personal life at all.

Whitley [from A Different World] was so far removed from my own personal experience that it was like putting on a jacket and just going into that world. That's also fun. Pretending is great fun!

But Stomping at the Savoy was probably closest to how I really feel. And then I got to work with all these great women – Vanessa Williams, Lynn Whitfield – and the fun on and off camera that we had, being able to dance, and learning how to swing was also great. We learned to swing from the masters.  [We learned from] real swing dancers who were in their 80s. So that was a great experience.

Of course I had great time doing A Different World, but I didn't feel as affected, deeply affected. 

AW: Why did you decide to reinvent yourself into a director?

Guy: Well, I've been asked to direct before, and I have done it for television, which is very different from this experience. I like the writing. I felt that I was more empowered than [just] directing what people say. ... I've choreographed before. I've assisted. I've put shows together, so it was time for me to use all of this, and in turn, incorporate some of what I have learned from great people, and bring it here.

AW : What's the toughest part about being a director? I've heard you mention many of the positive things, but what's the difficult part?

Guy: The challenging part for me is communication. I started directing the piece the way I like to be communicated to as an actress. That's kind of how I approach everything. I treat people the way I like to be treated.

But, that doesn't mean I'm getting my message across. People hear differently. They respond differently. So, the challenge has been to express things visually or through memory or talking about personal issues that really force some meaning of the piece to [the actresses]. ... Getting to know them and having to communicate with them was a challenge in the beginning because I had only seen everybody at the audition one time.

AW : How was it spending six weeks away from where you live, Los Angeles, to open this  play in Atlanta?

Guy: It's been good for me. It's been harder for my little one. Atlanta is familiar to me. And I've been living with my dad and mom, hanging out with my high school friends. I'm loving it!

AW:   So, you are from Atlanta then?

Guy: I grew up here. I left here when I was 17. Two of my high school friends came last night [ at a closed rehearsal] and three of them are coming tonight [opening night] from Northside. I went to Northside High School of the Arts.

AW: Would a businesswoman enjoy watching For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf ?

Guy: Absolutely! I have very good friends in the corporate world. I was at [Gloria Johnson Goins' Women of Excellence] luncheon. They have such decorum. And there's a [certain] way they have to communicate that I think this [play] is their voice [since] they can't speak about certain things or they can't say certain things. I think that [business women] are going to love this piece. I think they will definitely related to it in many ways.  ... I just want to encourage everyone to come and see because of the work and the universal language of the piece.

AW: Tell us about your 9-year-old daughter Imani. She seems very outgoing. She seems very strong. Is she more like you?

Guy: (Laughs) She is now. In the beginning, she doesn't say anything [ if she doesn't know you.] But she has been with me in the rehearsals for three weeks, so she knows the crew. She knows them. She's generally not like that, but this is now a familiar place. She feels this is her production. (Laughs)

AW: I want to ask a very personal question. The name of this production is For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf . Have you ever considered suicide?

Guy: I have. And I thought everybody did at one point in his or her life until I started telling people. I would say, 'Once I thought about it. What about you?' and they would say, 'No! I've never thought about that.' I thought it was a little more common than maybe it is.

AW: Do you think people are hiding that they've considered suicide and not voicing it?

Guy: I don't know. People really don't talk about suicide. When it came up for me, it wasn't really something that I wanted to share. I'm able to talk about it now because that feeling is gone.

AW : How do you top this? What's next for you?

Guy: I wanted to create a musical from a children's book I read. I haven't written it. But I loved the story and the art of it. I have a little one. So, I'm a big children's book fanatic. They have grown so much since I was little. ... Some of our greatest artists are doing illustrations for these children's books. And the stories are so much more complex and sophisticated as our children do with more and more issues in their lives. And I loved this children's book. So my next pitch is going to be to get it commissioned so that I can make it into a musical. I would love to do it here [in Atlanta,] so I'm putting that in this interview to get the word out. (Laughs)

Photo Credit: DJ Bing/House of Fashion and Photography