Tisha Campbell is a Hollywood legend. An actress since childhood, she’s done everything from kicking it alongside Captain Kangaroo to toplining several acclaimed network sitcoms, including ’90s powerhouse Martin. Her film pedigree is similarly vaunted — Campbell was in Little Shop of Horrors’ Greek Chorus and all three House Party movies. She’s even released her own albums, because she’s just that talented.
Given Campell’s long and illustrious career — including her role as Uncoupled’s Suzanne, real estate partner and best friend to Michael (Neil Patrick Harris) — Tudum thought it could be fun to take a walk down memory lane with the actor, looking at some of her more memorable roles, moments and the life lessons she picked up along the way.
How did you first hear about Uncoupled?
[Uncoupled co-creators] Darren Star and Jeffrey Richman called me on Zoom and we had a meeting about it. They talked to me about the character Suzanne, what her purpose was, and where they thought they were going to go with it and I just knew it was the perfect fit.
I'm a fan of Darren Star’s. I'm a fan of Jeff Richman. I love their comedy and their timing and their heart. I hadn't even read a script. All I knew was a concept, but I signed on immediately.
It was a dream cast. I definitely wanted to sign once I found out that I could work with Neil Patrick Harris. Once we got to work together, the chemistry was so obvious. We've both been in the business since we were toddlers, so I knew that we would relate in that way as well.
Who do you think Suzanne is at her core?
My character is Michael’s ultimate support system. His character is going through this major breakup after 17 years of being with somebody. My character is a free spirit. She’s the opposite of other people in his life. My character is just, “Let’s figure it out as we go.”
My purpose is to be Michael’s real, true friend, because when you go through a breakup, you lose friends as well. I personally have been uncoupled out of a 20-something year relationship, so I understand it and I know what it's like to have to go through those major ups and downs.
Uncoupled is about going through that journey of those ups and downs, but there's hope. That's what I love about the show. It's funny, it's witty, it's heartwarming and everybody can relate to it because it's a universal subject. Heartbreak is a universal freakin’ subject.
One of your very first roles was in Little Shop of Horrors, where you played a member of the Greek Chorus named Chiffon. How much did you know about the musical going in, and what was it like to land such a big movie? People love it even now, almost 40 years later.
I know! That's crazy. I was about 16 years old. I had just quit the business because I had auditioned for 227 to play Regina King’s best friend, and I didn’t get it, so I was like, “You know what? I just want to be a regular kid. There’s this summer program at Rutgers University and I'm just gonna go with my friends from school and chill at this summer camp.” It was a music camp, and at the time, I was studying opera, so my voice was really strong.
My mother started calling me from home, and said, “Your agent is calling me and they want you to audition for Little Shop of Horrors.” I was like, “The show?” And she said, “No, the movie.” I told her, “Ma, I told you. I quit.” She said, “Please, Tisha, they won’t stop calling me.” So I said, “All right. If I do this, can I just come back to camp right after?” And she agreed.
Like I said, because I was studying opera at the time, my voice was very strong. I didn't know whether I would get it, because there were people from all over the world there auditioning. There were people there on callbacks from all over the States and from London as well.
Much to my surprise, I did get it, and when summer was over, I got on a plane to London and we shot for eight months. It was my first time being out of the country, but it wasn’t bad because I already knew Michelle [Weeks] and I already knew Tichina [Arnold]. We were all friends already, so it was just like going on this really cool adventure, and they just happened to film it for eight months.
Did working on that movie help you become better friends with Tichina?
No, we’d been friends since we were 11 or 12. We’d see each other on auditions and stuff.
At auditions, girls wouldn't talk to each other, but we would just gab all the time, so we became friends. Then, when we would find out about an audition, if the other one didn't get a call, you’d just tell them, “Hey, just go and put my agent’s name on there. Let’s go to this audition together.” If it wasn't me getting the role, I wanted her to get it, and vice versa.
What was it like getting to work with Tichina then, for five years on Martin? It must have been nice to spend that time together.
It was like home. I remember Martin [Lawrence] came over to my house to convince me to play the role, because I had gotten something else. All they were shooting for the Martin show was just a pilot, but the other show had an order for 13 or 20 episodes. I don’t remember what it was. He was like, “Don't take that job. Take this role.” Something told me to take it, and I did.
Anyway, Tichina and I were roommates at the time, and she had just auditioned for the Pam role, and so [Martin] was like, “What are you doing here?” A couple of weeks later, we found out that she got the role and we were jumping up and down.
It was amazing to be able to work with somebody who's my friend, and we were doing all of that together. We didn't know Martin was going to be iconic, though. We didn't know it was going to last for however long and that people would still be enjoying it. We didn't know. We just tried to make people laugh.
Do you mean you didn’t know from day one, or that you never knew, the whole time?
The way we were brought up, in this business, you're only as good as your last job. So as soon as we're done with a job, we just move on and try to find the next game. That's how [Tichina and I] always operate. We don't even look backward. We didn't even watch ourselves.
I started watching the show because millennials were obsessed with it, and now Gen Z is. Millennials are always quoting things and euphemisms from the show and I don't know what they're talking about, so one of my friends who happens to be a millennial started making me watch the show. I’ve been like, “Oh, this is really funny!”
Spike Lee is such an important voice in Hollywood, and you got to make School Daze with him. That movie is packed with some heavy hitters, like Laurence Fishburne and Giancarlo Esposito. What do you remember about getting asked to do that movie?
Well, Spike Lee was really the only [major]black filmmaker at the time, and so I just wanted to be a part of it. I didn't care whether I was an extra. I didn't know what role I was auditioning for, to be quite honest. I just wanted to be a part of that movie.
When I went in there, I didn't know that I was being sought after for the role, really. I remember getting a call from the casting person, and she said, “I heard you're not coming to the callback.” I said, “What do you mean?” She said, “There's a dance audition.” I said, “Oh, that dance audition?” I had said no, because I'm not a dancer, but I told her, “I'll be there. Just tell me this. What's the first audition and what's your last one?” She said, “10 o’clock and 6 p.m.” I said, “Give me the 6 p.m., but I’m going to show up at 10 a.m.”
So, I ran the dance all day long. I didn't take a break. I didn't drink any water. I didn't do anything. I just tried to get the dance down before my call time at six. So I was there, and I saw Spike watching me. Every now and then he would come out, see me there and leave. But I wound up getting it and much to my surprise, I was the lead.
There's something to be said for seeing someone putting in the work. He had to recognize that.
Probably. I didn't think of it like that. That was always my trick, though, because I really wasn't a real dancer. People thought that I was though.
Being from New Jersey, I didn't have money to take classes, so whenever there was an audition, I would always ask somebody to book me for the last possible slot there was, and show up that morning and just stay there all day and see if I could figure something out.
You also played one of the leads in Sprung, and you even did a duet with Tichina Arnold on the movie’s soundtrack. How did that come about?
I tricked her into doing that with me. I told her, “I need you to come do some background vocals.” She was like, “No problem,” but when she showed up, I said, “This is a duet.” She was like, “You tricked me!” and I was like, “Yeah, I know. Just go in the fucking studio and sing.”
You’ve been in a number of music videos, including Will Smith’s “Will 2K” and “Wild Wild West,” as well as Toni Braxton’s “You’re Makin’ Me High.” How did those gigs come about?
Honestly, I don't remember. For “Will 2K,” I think they just called me. I remember it being fun, because it took like two seconds. They just said, “Yell at the kid,” and I was like, “I can do that, because I yell at my own kid.”
Well, you were on an episode of The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air in 1991, so you must have made an impression on Will Smith. That 227 denial didn’t set you back too far.
Before the Martin show, I could not book any comedy at all. Nobody would hire me. I was always the go-to drama girl. I was always the go-to crying girl, if that's what you needed.
I remember going to an audition — I don't know what it was for, but it was a sitcom. After I was done, the casting director said, “You need sitcom classes.” I was like, “Oh, where do I get those?” And she said, “There aren’t any.” I was just that bad.
I understood the temperature that was happening at the time, though. A lot of male comedians were getting deals, and so I said, “Well, if I'm going to keep working, I have to figure out what comedy is.” I would go to the Comedy Store and the Laugh Factory and just sit in the back with the comedians to try and figure out what comedy was. Once I realized that the people that were going up on stage were the ones that were the ones who told the truth, I was like, “Ohhhh, it’s a fine line. Got it.” Then I was able to be a better support system for any person that I played opposite of. If they needed me to ground the scene because he wanted to be over the top, then that's what I would do. If the comedian was trying to ground the scene and I needed to be big, that's what I would do. It's a dance of the truth.
Once you did Martin, you went on a comedic tear, so it must have worked. You did all three House Party movies, Another 48 Hours, Boomerang…
Yeah, I became the go-to comedy girl.
Have you ever seen that casting person again?
I don’t remember what that person looks like at this point. I just remember the circumstances and how I felt at that moment.
My last question is a curveball: You were a guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 10, and the episode you did is iconic for several reasons. First, it was the episode where RuPaul wore the “facekini,” which is a singularly memorable look. Second, it was the episode where Monét X Change and Dusty Ray Bottoms did the “Pound The Alarm” lip-synch, which is considered to be up there in the pantheon of Drag Race performances. What do you remember about being on that judging panel?
I was so excited to work on RuPaul’s Drag Race, because it's such a great show. I could not wait to do it. I could not wait to walk that little runway. I only had two seconds on that runway, but I was able to do it.
It's not easy to do that show and come up with those one-liners that they do. Michelle Visage is great at it. I was just happy to be there.
It's funny though. I was at a mall and this guy walked past and said, “I'm really sorry about my runway,” and I went “Huh?” He said, “Oh my gosh, I'm not in drag. It's me.” I was like, “I didn't even recognize you,” and they said, “I don't think I'm even supposed to talk to any of the judges” — even if they aren't on the show anymore. It was fun, though. It was a lot of fun.
Do you remember which queen it was?
No, but I know we all ripped on him on the runway. He was so sweet, though.
