When Tika Sumpter sat in the virtual guest seat for Deadline’s New Hollywood Podcast, the news had just dropped that ABC renewed Mixed-ish for a second season so she was definitely in good spirits as we celebrated the news.
Prior to Mixed-ish, Sumpter starred in multiple TV series including One Life to Live, Gossip Girl, The Game and OWN’s The Have and the Have Nots. She also appeared in the HBO film Bessie and was seen in multiple features Stomp the Yard: Homecoming, Think Like a Man and the Ride Along franchise. She also appeared in Get On Up, The Old Man & the Gun and starred as Michelle Obama in the highly underrated Southside With You. She also stepped into the world of video game films in Sonic the Hedgehog.
On top of all this, she is part of Kenya Barris’s –ish universe alongside Black-ish and Grown-ish for the aforementioned Mixed-ish, a prequel of sorts where Sumpter plays the matriarch of the Johnson family which includes a younger version of Rainbow Johnson (Arica Himmell). She also teamed with Thai Randolph to launch Sugaberry, a media startup that focuses on content for mothers of color.
Sumpter talked to Deadline about her journey in Hollywood, the importance of biracial narratives and the Black icon she wants to play in a movie (spoiler alert: it’s legendary fashion designer Ann Lowe). Listen to the episode below.
*This episode was recorded before the events and protests after George Floyd’s death.
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