Thursday, March 28, 2024

“Last Call” Star Charles Malik Whitfield Doesn’t Mind That You Still Call Him Otis

Charles Malik Whitfield
Charles Malik Whitfield

Charles Malik Whitfield has been acting in TV and film for 20 plus years. From soap operas to TV dramas – including his role in the 1998 miniseries  “The Temptations” – the actor has left fans with several memorable performances that are still referenced in 2019. His latest project is starring in the new Bounce TV comedy, “Last Call.”

The sitcom features some of your favorite actors from the 90’s, follows a retired NFL player named Darius Knight (Whitfield) who has made some poor investments. After his manager steals his earnings, Darius uses his only remaining investment —  a Baltimore bar named Last Call — to open a comedy club in the backroom.

EURweb correspondent Jill Munroe spoke with Whitfield about how he got into acting, who he talked to in the NFL for inspiration into Darius, the role of Otis and why he keeps a low profile on social media.

Jill:        Did you take any inspiration from any known NFL players for the role?

Malik:    I think it’s the evolution of the character. I didn’t want to pretend that he knew everything. In many characters that I have played… The majority of characters I do, are characters who are very clear in what they want to do and what they don’t want to do and where they want to go and what they’re trying to achieve, and all the other, kind of hashtag or benchmarks. What I didn’t want to do with him, I didn’t want to feel like if he was so sure-footed. I wanted him to feel as vulnerable as possible, and know that sometimes, he’s got to be part of the joke. He’s got to be the release.

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photo via Bounce TV

So I have quite a few NFL players that are very good friends of mine, Donovan McNabb, my boy Clarence Love.  I had all of these great players to draw from. And they’re all very, very different in many, many ways. But I think the one universal thing that they have is everybody else’s perception of them — oh, don’t worry, you’ll be all right, oh, don’t worry, you got it, oh, don’t worry, pick up the bill, oh, don’t worry — and that’s not reality.

So we have the reality of — oh, don’t worry, but how are we going to make payroll? It’s like, I don’t know, how are we going to make payroll? And that’s what we really have to embrace. And the character not only has to embrace it, but the people around him have to realize, you really ain’t got it like that.

Jill:   What was early Malik like? Did you always have dreams of going into acting? How did you enter that space?

Malik:    No. I was really introduced to acting from a teacher in the Bronx who helped change my life, saved my life — refocus all of my thoughts and perspective and aspiration. So, I mean, she really influenced me greatly and not only helped me get scholarships to go train at certain places, all these world renowned teachers. And so I was just really, just fortunate

She was my platform and my base that I’m extremely thankful for. It was a hard learning curve growing up in the Bronx, in such a violent time and violent scenario and violent community and depressed in poverty. And it was like — our fun was going out to play tag in the abandoned buildings, jumping down elevators back in those days.

But that’s just was our reality. But the magic in the kid’s mind is, it still wasn’t the ghetto for me, it wasn’t the projects for me, it wasn’t any of that, it was just where I was.

Jill:        It was home. Right.

Malik:    So we have people that are willing to extend the olive branch and say, okay, well come over here and experience a different place. And come over here and experience a different place. And your perspective opens up and you have a better perception and perspective, but not only what’s happening around you but where you can potentially go that’s happening outside of your community. And I think that when our young kids get to leave outside of their elements that’s especially positive and supporting and nurturing, that great things can happen when there’s somebody out on the other side saying, “hey, over here, we just want to see you win.”

I think Tyler Perry has that spirit. Oprah Winfrey has that spirit. You just see an immense amount of people that come together with them. And they really just want them to win. They win in business as well, but just because they went into business, they truly and sincerely want the people they’re working with to win.

I’ve been fortunate enough to work with Roger Bobb, who’s really a silent little comedic genius in his own right. And I’ve got to sit there, and I appreciate him, appreciate his hard work and determination. And as well as my cast. We have a loaded cast of people who are recognizable from The Cosby Show, Martin Lawrence — staples — and Living Single, all these scenarios that we all as African American people not only have grown to love but also lifted us up through so many different times, as not just good TV but great TV.

Jill: You’ve played a variety of characters, one of my personal favorites, along with everyone else is your role as Otis in “The Temptations.” Do people still come up to you and say stuff like – “ain’t nobody here to see you, Otis” — and are you tired of that type of stuff?

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Malik:    I’m never tired of it. It happens almost every single day or any day that I’m really kind of out and about. [laughs] It happens every day. And you know what, I appreciate it. I enjoy it. I love it. I never get tired of it. I never get tired of it and I’ve always told people I never get tired of it because many times when I was just tired of it all together, as in acting, and thinking and walking down 42nd street, or 47th street or you know, running on auditions in the Bronx or in California and going — I just don’t know what else to do and maybe I need to just tap out and try and figure something else out, and somebody would go, “hey, Otis! Don’t ever stop acting,” or whatever. And I’d go, well I guess today’s not the day; I got to keep on pushing.

So I’ve been granted nothing but a source of inspiration. That has supported me in many, many ways. So sometimes people are like, “Hey, I love the film.” And then other times, you know, I’ve been coming back to New York City to bury my dad, and people are like, “Otis, ain’t nobody coming to see you, about to charge you five cents,” and it just lifts my spirits beyond what they could have even imagined. And I go, thank you. I appreciate it.

Jill:  It was interesting when I was researching you, I noticed you have limited social media, do you utilize it?

Malik:    I don’t do a lot of social media. I am on Instagram (@malikwhitfield). I don’t do Twitter. I’m not hardcore in social media.

Jill:        You’re not into that. That’s not your thing. Any particular reason?

Malik:   I like things private, I really do. Sometimes I think, I’m just apprehensive with the whole — I’m over here and hey blah-blah-blah — and I try to post some things, maybe in afterthoughts or afterwards. But, I just don’t dig it. I don’t dig it. And then it’s a little weird to me at times, honestly, when people are like — yeah, so you were over here, and da-da-da-da — and I’m like, I have no idea who you are and I don’t know you.

Check out “Last Call” on Bounce TV, Mondays at 9:00 PM.

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