"The acting comedian thing definitely saved my life. God gave me that as a purpose, because before then, that’s what I was around – the pool halls, the pimps and the hoes – that’s the world I was interested in."

Satin gets a ‘Sparkly’ make-over with Mike Epps playing the role

By KEVIN ‘CHILL’ HEARD

Managing Editor

In the original 1976 version of “Sparkle” the character of Satin was a no-good, dirty dog pimp and player. This time around Satin is a no-good, dirty dog pimp and player who is a comedian – and he’s played by Mike Epps.

The Mike Epps that I sat down with in L.A. to talk about his role in “Sparkle” was noticeably more introspective about is role, his acting and what brought him to his most challenging character to date.

Here’s the interview with our favorite cousin Dey-Dey turned pimp-smackin’ joke hustler:

Question: How did you like doing this film?

Epps: Did you see the bootleg?

Have you seen the original “Sparkle”? If so, what did you think of it?

I was young when I saw the original and I wanted to be a part of this one because the first one was a classic movie. When I told people that I was up for the part of Satin, the response I got was amazing. That was a green light for me right there. I asked my mom and aunties about “Sparkle,” they were like “Oh, that’s my movie!” I figured that I might get in good with my Grandmamma if I did this movie.

Did you have an early impression about the film when you read the script?

Oh, it was well written. Mara Brock (Salim) wrote the hell outta that script. It was so relatable to my own real-life family, with the insecurities and favoritisms with the kids, it was just too much of what I knew to not want to be apart of it.

Do you have any lasting memories of being with Whitney Houston in the film?

What I remember most about Whitney, was that in the morning when we would get to our trailers for hair and make-up, she would have her [trailer] door closed blasting Michael Jackson.

Really?

Man, she was singing with him so loud; it was like they were both in there. They had the trailer rockin’! She was listening to Mike every morning. I was like damn, if you opened her door, Mike would have been standing there, snapping his fingers. That’s probably what they are doing right now.

In retrospect, of us being without Michael and Whitney now, that’s kind of special.

That’s why I’m telling you. It was weird that every morning she was bumping him! She wouldn’t listen to nothin’ else. She was playing his “Dangerous” album and all that. It was crazy! Yeah man, Whitney and Michael.

This character was kinda raw. You went pretty deep on this one. Was there a special place that you had to mentally go for this?

Over in Crenshaw (He laughs). Over at Maverick’s Flat (still laughing).

Tell me about it?

The acting comedian thing definitely saved my life. God gave me that as a purpose, because before then, that’s what I was around – the pool halls, the pimps and the hoes – that’s the world I was interested in. I was lookin’ for a career in that field, but I was an unsuccessful thug. I couldn’t even be an assistant pimp. My momma would always say to me “Yo daddy aint no street person and I aint no street person. You put yourself through this sh##!”

Was she right?

Yes! Because everybody in my family is square. All my brothers, none of them have been to jail, they don’t smoke nothin’ and I felt like I needed to be the dirtiest person in the family, because you gotta have one. I’m the only one that got felonies and didn’t graduate. When the family would go out, my mother would introduce all my siblings and say what their talents were and would get to me and just say “and that’s Michael.” 

Has that changed?

(He smiles broadly) Oh, now I’m the most loved [MF] in the family! They call me for advice, but that just shows you how life can change. And all those experiences that I put myself through as a kid ended up paying off and I cashed every last one of them in.

So you really relate to Satin’s character?

Everything the Satin character did… I’ve done those things. I’ve gotten high, I’ve [been wrong] with women before, I’ve done all of that. But I didn’t like it. I really didn’t wanna be that way. So now that God blessed me, I have a family, take my kids to school, and that other stuff from the past, stuff I’ve had counseling for, is now something I can go back and get out the closet, dust it off and use it in the movies. And after it’s over I can go hang that sh## right back up, ‘cuz it aint who I am anymore.

So was it really you in the first place?

It was all economically driven. It was about me not having nothin’ – but that’s how I can reach back for characters like that.

A lot of people got a big kick out of your scene at the dinner table with Whitney’s character, her family and the Reverend. Was it scripted like that or did you adlib? 

That was all scripted. And what I’ve learned working in this movie with people like Derek [Luke] and Omari [Hardwick] is that they take this business serious. This is like my comedy [is to me], it’s like my stand-up is “my sh##.” They went to school for this. Working with and around them made me question a lot of stuff about my acting. They made me step it up. I’m looking around like “Oh sh##, this is what they do,” verses me looking at them like I really do it too. I had to make sure my lines were on point; I gotta say what’s on the script, because Salim and his wife (the director and writer of the film) were adamant about that. Sometimes they would pull me to the side and say “We’ve got to have what’s on the script, because this is what’s going to carry us to the next scene. You gotta say that.” And the times I would not do it, they would say, “I don’t care how good you just acted in that scene; we still gotta have what’s written in the script.”

The result of Epps sticking to the script may pay off in the future as he gets the call for more serious roles. With a final shout out he also gave me the word on the much anticipated “Last Friday,” until then you can enjoy Epps in the well-written upgrade of a ‘70s classic. “Sparkle” is rated PG-13 and is in theaters now.

*You can follow this writer on Twitter @houseofchill