Erica Hubbard, Just A Chi-Town Girl

ERICA HUBBARD GIVES US THE SCOOP ON BET’S LET’S STAY TOGETHER, WORKING BEHIND THE SCENES AND HER CHICAGO CONNECTION.



Erica Hubbard is a Chicago native, alumni of Columbia College and a professionally trained actress. She’s full of drive, full of passion and full of purpose.

Schonté caught up with Erica and here’s the scoop.

GUMBUMPER: With all of the violence going on in Chicago, what do you say to that kid that sees you on their TV screen and aspires to get to where you are?


ERICA: I urge a lot of the youth and young adults to center themselves around people that are not participating in the violence. I know sometimes that is harder to do because sometimes we group up in communities where we are in the midst of a lot of violence but the thing is not to associate yourself with it. I just urge everybody right now to stop the violence because right now too many lives are being taken and it has to stop. Somebody has to initiate the change in their community.

For someone looking to be in the entertainment industry, it‘s not that hard at all if you just believe in yourself. There are so many opportunities in Chicago to participate in the entertainment industry. I started in Chicago. A lot of people don’t know that, they just think she is in LA and she’s working as an actress in LA, but you can join theater organizations. You meet a lot of people that are actually in television and film doing a lot of theater. You’ll find yourself around a lot of professionals and then you’ll find yourself on a movie set or television set. That’s exactly how I started.
GUMBUMPER: We watched you on ABC Family’s ‘Lincoln Heights’ as Cassie. What was it like playing a teenager?

ERICA: I didn’t talk about it for the four years I was filming. I tried to pretend like I was a teenager. When I was on set I was always in character. It was hard but it was something that I challenged myself to do. I knew that I was successful at it when people really started believing that I was a teenager. I would go places and people would talk to me like I was a little girl and so I knew I was doing something right. I was like no, I’m a grown woman with a mortgage.

GUMBUMPER: On BET’s ‘Let’s Stay Together’ you play Kita. How do you compare to the character you play?

ERICA: Similarities that I have with Kita is that she is a little sassy and if you know a lot of people growing up in Chicago, on the South Side, we tend to be sassy. We’re outspoken and we speak our minds.

I would be opposite of her (Kita) in real life with the fact that she is all over the place with her occupation. Kita went from working at the DMV to being a waitress at a bar and now she’s a cop. Kita had like four jobs in a matter of two years. People might tune in next season and she be a postal worker or something. I have a little more stability with my job. I’m not all over the place. I know what I want. I know what I want to pursue and I’m passionate about it.

GUMBUMPER: Last season, Kita got a new career, a new love and a new found confidence. What is your hope for Kita in this upcoming season?

ERICA: My hope for Kita in this upcoming season is for her to settle down with Troy, played by Christian Keyes, and to really develop that relationship because a lot of the fans love it and I think it works well for the show. Hopefully people will tune in and see more of the love life between Troy and Kita.

GUMBUMPER: It feels like there is such a long time period from one season of the show to the next. Why such a long hiatus?

ERICA: During our hiatus, most of the time we’re filming and it takes awhile. We’re doing 12 to 13 hour days. We’re trying to make it right for the audience so when we do air it, you guys are engaged and you guys are happy with the final result. We’ve taken our time to put out the best product and so far so good. Third season was one of our best seasons.

GUMBUMPER: Many African American actresses have complained about the lack of roles in Hollywood but fail to acknowledge that in order to get in front of the camera, we need more writers, directors and producers to bring those roles to the forefront. Do you have any plans to write, direct or produce?

ERICA: Yes. I just produced a film that hopefully everybody have seen and if you haven’t, it’s a really good love story called, “The Last Fall,” starring Nicole Beharie and Lance Gross. It should be on Netflix right now. I also produced a documentary coming out called,” Global Vocals.”

It’s so important for us to create our own products because how can we complain about something, then we don’t initiate a plan of action to execute. It’s like okay you complain but why don’t you start creating and then you’ll see a change.

GUMBUMPER: What was that experience like for you, producing?

ERICA: Producing is challenging but at the end when you see your final results you’re excited, you’re happy. “The Last Fall,” when I first read that script, I fell in love with the story. We need more love stories out there. I was like yes, finally a black love story. I said I want to be attached to this project by any means necessary. It’s directed by Matthew A. Cherry, who’s also from Chicago, and he said come on board as a producer.

GUMBUMPER: As an actress, how do you feel about the future of scripted television shows and do you ever fear that they will one day be replaced by reality TV?

ERICA: I think scripted television is here to stay because people want to see talented people who actually are trained as professional actresses, performing. For one or two years we were actually consumed by reality TV. People got tired of that. Now when you look at the fall television lineup you see more comedies and dramas. People want to see stories with plot lines that are scripted and have a good ending and not just you know a lot of women fighting and bickering in every episode. That gets tiring. Scripted television is here to stay. I’m so happy that being a trained actress I’ve done a comedy and a drama and I’m looking for my next project and it’s going to be a scripted show.

GUMBUMPER: What role would you love to play, that you haven’t played?

ERICA: I would like to do some stunt work. I would like to fly in the air and swing on the ropes, so I would say action hero. If they every need another cat woman I would play her. I would love to do that where she has super powers.

GUMBUMPER:Who is someone you would love to work with?

ERICA: I would like to work with Will Smith, he’s number one on the list. I would also like to work with Oprah. I just saw the Butler and I love her work. I would love to work with Angela Bassett again, she’s phenomenal.
GUMBUMPER: What has been your craziest, weirdest fan experience?

ERICA: I have so many. I have a fan mailbox and I get some of the weirdest things in the mail. Some letters and pictures that are like what? Some of these pictures are explicit. That’s the weirdest thing. I don’t mind fan mail but when you send pictures and I can’t even show my mom or dad and I got to squint looking at the picture, that’s a little weird to me.
GUMBUMPER: You do a lot of philanthropy work? Tell us about some of the organizations you are involved with?

ERICA: I have my own non profit called the The Erica Hubbard Foundation and basically people write me or they’ll email me to come to their school and mentor their kids. I speak on whatever topic the school gives me to motivate the children, like education, low self esteem, bullying or peer pressure.
GUMBUMPER: What is something that you know now that you wish you knew when you were first starting out as an actress?

ERICA: Everybody that says they can help you with your career, don’t always trust them. Anybody who wants to pursue anything in life and they have someone that’s a mentor, make sure you look at that person’s resume and their credentials first to see what they’ve pursued and how far they’ve gone because everybody doesn’t give you the right advice.
GUMBUMPER: What’s next for you?

ERICA: I have a movie coming out called, “Black Coffee,” so check it out. The person who directed it is Mark Harris, he is also from Chicago. A lot of Chicagoans are doing big things. It’s coming out in 2014 and it will be in theaters. It’s starring Darrin Dewitt Henson and Lamman Rucker. I just finished a film called the “Love letter” and that was a great experience working with Keshia Knight Pulliam and Romeo. Also don’t forget ” Let’s Stay Together” will be returning for our fourth season in 2014. I will be shouting out more things that I’m doing on Twitter and Facebook.


I love the art of story telling so I’m coming out with children’s books and they’ll be great Christmas gifts. If you want more information you can go to Booksbyericahubbard.com

Thank you so much everyone for the support from following me on Lincoln Heights to Let’s Stay Together and all my film work. I really appreciate the support.

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thanks batman642 for the interview. i was disappointed to read the following because it means theres probly no hope of ever seeing robert adamson on the show as kita's interracial love interest:

"What is your hope for Kita in this upcoming season?

ERICA: My hope for Kita in this upcoming season is for her to settle down with Troy, played by Christian Keyes, and to really develop that relationship because a lot of the fans love it and I think it works well for the show. Hopefully people will tune in and see more of the love life between Troy and Kita."

DRATZ!!!! i want erica and robert together again! great chemistry!

I know right! lol... Christian Keyes.....Pshhh....lol

Well you ladies may still get y'all wish lol. There an old saying never say never.

With you batman,who knows what up the road for robert and erica together again.let us keep the faith
.   

Just keep your fingers crossed!  

hmmm....batman....you know something...come on...you can tell me and I won't tell a soul...


..LMAO,,,,yeah right... me and my blabber mouth.....

Me to not a soul,i want tell:no: 

erica knows what i wanna see cuz i told her a long time ago on fb. maybe she suggested it to the producers? cuz to me, it's a GREAT idea! even for ppl who know nothing about LH, i think they would find it very intriguing to see kita in a relationship with a white man. and a FINE one like robert???? puh-leeeeese.... ratings would SKYROCKET! u hear? if they are smart, those writers will do what i suggested. afterall, i'm a writer too, even if i retired from FF. lol

With you Candy with this one.