6 hours Ago By TV Insider
In Living Color (1990-1994) helped make the Wayans family a household name and launched the careers of actors like Tommy Davidson , Jim Carrey , Jamie Foxx , Jennifer Lopez , and more. Looking back on his time on the show, Davidson tells TV Insider that his strongest memory from the set was also one of the earliest. As The Proud Family star reveals, he completely froze his first time on camera, and advice from Damon Wayans helped get him through it.
Davidson reunited with Wayans (and his son, Damon Wayans Jr. ) on Poppa’s House on Monday, February 3. The former costars played two grown men trying to make new friends for the first time in a long time.
But Davidson and Wayans go way, way back. Davidson shares the story of how his nerves almost got the best of him on day one of filming In Living Color and how his friend helped turn things around. “Damon made me loosen up because the first time the camera came on me, I froze and I couldn’t say a word,” the comedian tells TV Insider.
“The light went on the camera and I realized, ‘Wait a minute, I’m on TV.’ Even though I worked so hard to be on there. I was stuck.
” “‘Cut! What’s going on with Tommy?'” he recalls someone saying. “Cut, cut, cut again, cut.” That’s when Wayans intervened, and his words changed everything.
20th Century Fox Film Corp. / Everett Collection “Damon walked over and whispered in my ear, ‘Hey man, you deserve this. You worked your butt off, man.
And what about your family? Just do what you do. Just do what you do,'” Davidson reveals. “And I never looked back.
I never looked back.” One of Davidson’s most well-known roles since In Living Color has been playing the instantly recognizable voice of Oscar Proud in The Proud Family and The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder spinoff (Davidson confirms he’s been recording voiceover for Season 3’s episodes “since last year”). The Proud Family first premiered in September 2001.
Over 20 years later, Davidson still loves playing the animated family patriarch (he yells Oscar’s signature “TRUDY!” catchphrase as we discuss the series). “I am Oscar Proud in real life,” he warmly says. He loves that the Disney Channel series has stood the test of time.
“It just spans generations, and the best thing I love about it is it’s given me a job for years. You get you a good job and it lasts, that could sure make life easy.” See Davidson’s In Living Color reunion with the Wayans family in Season 1 Episode 10 of Poppa’s House , streaming now on Paramount+ .
Poppa’s House , Mondays, 8:30/7:30c, CBS This article first appeared on TV Insider and was syndicated with permission..
