Give-

Um, I feel like I vaguely said it in certain interviews, but I have, I give people, like, the media quick, long story short answer.

So originally, The Chi was a pilot, no name.

It was just called the Untitled Lena Waithe Project, and you can still look it up to this day.

Um, it was back in 2015.

I auditioned for it back in 2015.

I was, like, 10 going on 11.

Yeah.

How did that feel to finally have that moment where you get to care for yourself as a character, but yet still be available for all the crew that you hang out with?

Yeah.

I think it was needed ultimately, uh, across all the seasons.

Like you said, like, we've always seen Papa look out for his friends and other people and be this voice of reason, but he's never had the time to himself to really reflect and dive into how he's feeling.

Even when, you know, his dad died back in season six, um, you know, you never really s- you saw Papa grieve and give this speech and all type of stuff, but you never really see him tap into his emotions, um, after it all compared to other characters and in the past seasons.

So I feel like when it came down to this season, I really wanted to tap into a certain type of mindset of just really giving Papa his own, you know, his own space, his own comfort zone.

And, you know, of course he's not going about it the, the right [laughs] way this season at all, but, you know, I definitely wanted the fans to see a different side of Papa, and it's showing.

Did you get any sort of collaboration input to any of this throughout the seasons with Lena or anybody like that, or is it just the amazing writers and you just get to play it all out?

... would you say would be your personality in real life, even though they're, like, fictional characters?

I would say anything positive, anything with personality was, is 1000% Shamon.

You know, like, the writers and everybody created, you know, dope scenes and amazing moments, but Shamon, I feel like, is definitely what brought the light into it.

Like, anytime you see, you smile, you crack a joke, that's Shamon's comedic timing, that's Shamon's energy and spirit.

Like, that was nothing that, like, people really had to, like, you know, pour into me or give to me.

That was just kinda something I had, uh, given.

And I would say with Michelangelo, see, Michelangelo's kinda hard because, you know, it's a character that's been already established for, like, 40-plus years, so you already ha- you kinda have to, like, tap into what all the other voice actors and people that have played Michelangelo have tapped into.

Did you get any sort of collaboration input to any of this throughout the seasons with Lena or anybody like that, or is it just the amazing writers and you just get to play it all out?