Photo by Paras Griffin / Getty Images
@Okayplayer sat down with the Girls Trip heartthrob, Kofi Siriboe, to talk about his time on set, his fandom for his co-stars and if Girls Trip 2 is a real thing or not.
Girls Trip, the breakout summer comedy smash that stars Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Tiffany Haddish, and Regina Hall, was just what this rollercoaster of a year needed. The Will Packer-produced, Kenya Barris-written project was just released on Blu-ray DVD, and served as a raunchy and hilarious celebration of the one-of-a-kind bond that black women forge with one another. We also learned from this picture that, uh, there are more things one can do with a grapefruit than we ever thought was possible.
READ: Jhené Aiko & 'Girls Trip' Scribe Tracy Oliver Team Up For 'Trip' Short Film
One of the up-and-coming stars of Girls Trip—Kofi Siriboe—has been breaking hearts even before he was cast in the role as Malik. Every Wednesday, women swoon while watching the chocolate heartthrob do his thang as Ralph Angel Bordelon on the Ava DuVernay-produced OWN drama, Queen Sugar. We were extremely happy to have the budding leading man sit down with @Okayplayer to talk about his experiences on both sets.
Source: Twitter
Okayplayer: What have been some of the lessons that you've learned from your co-stars since they've all had really long and successful careers in show business?
Kofi Siriboe: Honestly, what I'm realizing being around people who've been doing this for a minute and are being successful in what they do is that you really just watch how people move. I'm very observant so once I'm in your personal space I'm able to see how you move and kind of put the pieces together, at most to the extent that I want. You know what I'm saying? Like if there's something I really want to know then I'll ask but I just see how Oprah [Winfrey] moves, I see how Ava moves, I saw how Jada moved, I saw how Queen [Latifah] moved.
Everybody's being themselves. That's what I realized the, I guess, higher up I go and the closer I get to these people that I have concepts of, now I get to see them personally and they're really just who they are. Then there's this whole world that builds up around their truth, and they take it all to the different ways but really they're out here living their lives, and trying to be as creative and expressive as they can in the moment. You know?
It's like Jada doing the role she did in Girls Trip, I couldn't even imagine that watching her 10 years ago, 15 years ago, but she's a mom now. You know what I'm saying? This is her trying to express herself right now, so I just, I loved that. I was like, ‘Oh, wow, there is no ... It's just a big façade, thinking, oh, they're picking the right project.' It's just everybody's doing them, and trying to do them as well and as best as possible, you know, and I think that's really dope.
OKP: Right, right. And what have been some of your favorite memories from being on the set of Girls Trip?
KS: Man, I think just being on the set of Girls Trip, like the entire time, and I worked sporadic days so it's not like I was just there for like two months straight. It was like the days I would come to set, whether it was three days in a row or just a day and pop back up, it was always the realization, ‘Yo, that's really Larenz Tate, like he's really right here.’ ‘Yo, that's really Jada Pinkett. Yeah, she really there.’ I said, ‘Oh, okay.’ She goes, ‘Okay.’ ‘That's really Queen Latifah.’ It's like, ‘That's really Regina Hall.’
I'm still new to this. Every single one of them, I've watched before so it's like they're sitting here talking to me, treating me as if I'm one of them, and I feel like I'm one of them. We're making this project, creating this art together, and it's like it's just surreal. The entire time it's surreal. It's still surreal. It's starting to get a little bit more like, ‘Okay, here's my people. What up, 'Renz? Hey, hey, what up, Queen?’ I give them nicknames and stuff but the first couple days is like, ‘Damn, this is crazy.’
OKP: You still get starstruck?
KS: Oh, yeah. I mean, it's super internal. I'm a low-key person, regardless, but ... oh, by all means, like it's just excitement.
I don't know if I would consider it starstruck but it's just like I'm a fan of people. If I like you or like your work or respect your work, I'm just a fan so I'm just like, ‘Yo, I love you, I respect you, and I think you're amazing.’ You know? It's one of those.
OKP: Switching gears a bit, this season of Queen Sugar has been super intense. I've been group-chatting with my friends about the season.
KS: You ain't seen nothing yet. You ain't seen nothing yet.
OKP: What has the set been like of Queen Sugar, and what's been the difference you've seen in working on a show that's driven by women in not just the cast, but the crew, too?
KS: It just feels like homemade food. You know? It's like there's fast food and then there's homemade food. When I go to different sets, it feels like, no disrespect to any of those sets, but with Queen Sugar there's a nurturing feeling that's embedded in the structure of the whole thing. Ava and Oprah are the leaders of the ship, and they just don't play around when it comes to spiritual people.
Everybody's great at what they do technically but as a person these people are really just genuine, amazing, heartfelt people, and that environment is what people see on TV, because it's a true family. And as we know, fathers go get the bread or do whatever they do in society, but moms are the glue, point, blank, period. They hold everything down, they hold everything together, so I feel like that natural balance that women bring to everything. That dynamic they bring to everything is the core of our family on Queen Sugar, and that naturally makes the set feel like homemade food, if that metaphor makes any sense.
OKP: As far as drama or comedy, do you find yourself drawn more to one kind of genre or the other?
KS: Absolutely. I would've told you two years ago, prior to Queen Sugar, that, ‘I'm a drama actor. I like drama. I like seriousness,’ and it's true, but I realized I'm a big fan of the truth, and I realized with comedy you can do the same thing and, honestly, the best drama has a hint of comedy, just to keep everything flowing because life is life. We still smile, we still laugh, because we know how terrible the world can be. I'm not going to be pessimistic and say "is" but Donald Trump is our president.
So that being said, you need a little bit of comic relief when shit gets real. You know? The drama is definitely my heart, just because life is real, and people do feel pain, and it's not easy being a human being. There's just so much of that that I do want to tell, and use my black, 23-year-old body to tell right now—but I'm not married to the media. Whatever's going to tell the right story, the best story, the truest story, that's where I'm at, but I love drama. I love tears. I love sensitivity.
OKP: So what's the word on a Girls Trip sequel? Are you going to be back?
KS: That's hilarious. I guess you just have to wait to see what writers Kenya [Barris] and Tracy [Oliver] do. I'll tell you now, I have like a billion plots. But who knows? That's one of those things where it just rests in God's hands.
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Danielle A. Scruggs is a Chicago-based photographer and writer who runs the website Black Women Directors and is also the Director of Photography at the Chicago Reader, an award-winning alt-weekly newspaper. Follow her on Twitter at @dascruggs and view her site at daniellescruggs.com.
