*For many, Father’s Day marks a special time where a well-deserved light shines on dads, biological or otherwise, near and far.
For Omar Gooding, that light shines on the small screen while dispensing fatherly wisdom to his kids as Tony Stallworth on the hit Bounce TV show “Family Time.” As for the person giving Omar his real life blueprint to follow, that honor goes to his father, famed singer Cuba Gooding, Sr. With the arrival of Father’s Day, Omar chatted with EURweb.com about his dad and how he provided him with one of many moments to remember.
“My father, he’s is an entertainer. So for me being an entertainer since I was 10, one of my favorite memories was probably being on stage and performing with him because he’s a singer and he allowed me and my rap group to open up for him,” Omar shared with EURweb. “We did a remix of one of his songs, “Work to Do.” I got to freestyle up there and it was awesome. We have a lot of fun on the downtime, but he works a lot. I work a lot and we got our first time to work together. For me, that was a big moment.”
A father’s consistency stands out most for Gooding’s TV wife Angel Conwell, who remembers her dad being “always there” while supplying a never-ending array of “some great moments.”
“We do have a lot of just great moments because he’s always there, basically. When I was a cheerleader, any of my performances,” she said. “Basically, just the consistency of our relationship has always meant a lot to me. Things of that nature, it’s just all special to me.”
Like Gooding, Bentley Kyle Evans gains knowledge and satisfaction with interacting with his dad. The “Family Time” creator, executive producer and director is very fond of discovering “what makes him tick” when taking road trips.
“You know I’m fortunate enough to still have my dad in my life. We have wonderful talks. Whenever we hop on the freeway and go to the bay area, we drive and we talk and that’s when I kinda get to find out ‘who is this guy?’” Evans confessed. “That’s when we have our private talks and stuff like that when I kinda get a chance to know who he is and what makes him tick.”
Seizing upon the value of those roadside chats as well as lessons learned over the years, the notion to bring his father’s influence while raising his own son, Bentley Kyle Evans, Jr., comes naturally for Evans.
“I’ve had some really, really good experiences with my dad so it’s important for me to carry on the tradition of being a dad,” he expressed to EUR as while touching on using things he didn’t get a chance to experience with his dad to create new experiences and bond with his son. “I’m a father. I’m a son. I’m a nephew. I’m an uncle. I’m a brother. I got so many hats that I’m wearing in real life as well. So what I try to do for my own son is I try to look at the things that maybe me and my dad didn’t do and I try to concentrate on giving him those things that we missed out on.
“Like, my dad was not the guy that’s gonna get out there and throw the ball with you, but he was gonna make sure I had the cleanest uniform and the best ball and the best bat, you know what I mean,” continued Evans. “So that’s kind of like our thing. My relationship with my son is probably very similar to the relationship that I have with my father as well. So it’s very important. Dads are very important.”
The presence of her dad was something Shanti Lowry will always treasure. Although the actress, who plays the Stallworth family’s neighbor Cheryl, lost her dad four and a half years ago, she continues to carry on his legacy with making him proud of the woman he raised her to become with following her dreams
For that reason, Lowry is forever grateful her dreams of doing what she loves have become her present-day reality.
“My dad passed away four and a half years ago and it is and continues to be a difficult thing, but I always remember how proud he was of me for following my dreams,” she said. “I’m gonna get all emotional. So anytime I’m on a set, I stop and go ‘I’m grateful,’ you know. I know that he is continuously proud of the fact that I’m a little girl from Boulder, Colo. and I said ‘Someday, I wanna be on those sets. I want to be doing what I love. And I want people to respect me for what I do and think that I’m serious about it. Whether you like me or not. Whether I’m talented or not, you know that I come every time prepared and ready to work hard and you know, I’m living that dream.
“I don’t know if I’ll go a lot further and become much more successful or not but I will continue to make him proud every time I walk on set,” Lowry added. “So that’s what I think of, on sets and on Father’s Day and anytime I think of him I’m really grateful. “
Reminiscing over their time together, Lowry goes back to her father’s reaction to, her film “Louis.”
“I did this movie that I’m very proud of, “Louis,” and I was really, really proud of the work that I did in it and watching him watch it, he got emotional. And he’s not a very emotional man,” the entertainer told EURweb.
“He couldn’t really say anything because I think he was afraid that it was gonna kind of bubble over. But just looking at him looking at the screen, it wasn’t about self-pride, like ‘Aw, I did that. I’m great. He thinks I’m great.’
“It was just like he was someone who struggled to get anything that he wanted in life. He really had to work hard and he fought his way through a lot of adversity,” she continued. “And then to see him see me doing what I want to do at a level that I was really proud of just made me feel like ‘ You know, those struggles were worth it.’ He gets to watch his daughter live her dreams.’ I feel like in that look, he was realizing that it was worth it.”
“Family Time” will kick off its third season this fall on Bounce TV.
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