*Comedian, actor, producer Deon Cole and an extraordinary newcomer Kelley Kali, sit down for an exclusive convo with radio and TV personality Jazmyn Summers for EUR Spotlight about their award winning new film “I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking).” The film drops on BET Her this Saturday (08-07-21).
The story follows a recently widowed mother who becomes homeless. She convinces her 8-year-old daughter that they are only camping for fun while working to get them off the streets. Heartwarming and heartbreaking, the must-see original movie delves in to the harsh reality of homelessness amid the COVID-19 epidemic. Kelley, an impressive young siSTAR, wrote, directed, starred in and executive produced the movie along with Cole and Capella Fahoome.
“The movie came about out of necessity,” Kelley shares exclusively with EUR Spotlight. “It was in the middle of the pandemic that we started seeing a lot more women on the streets with children so that’s where this story was born.”
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Deon says he got involved because of Kali: “When we talk about Kelley, we are talking superwoman, black girl magic and when she comes to you, you take it seriously.” He helped write the movie and of his role, he says is to “breathe a little humor and hype in her decision-making with my presence and lighten up a heavy situation.”
Cole, who has a career spanning over 20 years started in comedy when a friend bet him $50 that he would not get up on stage one night in Chicago.and he’s been rollin’ ever since. Well known for his work with Conan O’Briern, he is all over TV with roles in “Black-ish,” “Grown-ish” and his own specials. Since January of 2019, he’s been the global ambassador for Old Spice along with fellow comedian Gabrielle Dennis, a commercial that has been dubbed in every language from Russian to French. Icon Patti Labelle recently made a cameo as the “Old Spice Guy Mother-In-Law.”
“Patti is the best. That’s my mama now, ” Deon declares. “Patti was on her game as soon as she came in. I kicked my shoes off and hugged her,” said Deon who revealed that she never messed up on her lines once, “Shout out to Patti!”
Besides Conan, Cole has written for Nick Cannon, Kat Williams and many more.
“The thing about those guys is they really don’t need any help. Sometimes with comedians you can just be there to inspire. They are so great in their own right.”
Deon says his greatest passion in all he’s doing is just “creativity, bringing smiles to people’s faces and being part of something meaningful.” The successful comedian says he’s not afraid to bomb and used to go on stage with a notebook to take notes on what worked.
“I bombed 3 days ago,” he tells Spotlight. “That’s the job. Then you take the best of what you get. I bomb all the time. You just got to keep going.” Encouraging words for up and coming comedians. “Hang in there,” he says.
Some years ago Deon gave up weed, smoking and drinking cold turkey  Why?
“You evaluate your life. You look at things differently and make changes,” he discloses. ” I was getting older and having goals I wanted to reach. Smoking and drinking was cool but then what? The next day then what? I felt like I had a good run but I got to get on to handling my business.”
Deon is a devoted father to a now 18 year old son and he says raising a Black man in America ain’t easy.
“It’s all about guidance, trust and love and passing down wisdom to him, hoping he makes the right decisions and so far he has. He’s an amazing kid,” Deon tells Summers. He has not shared publicly who is son’s mother is but right now he says he is very single. So ladies, go ahead and slide up in his DMs (lol).
Cole often jokes he can put it down with the women so Spotlight just had to know if he’s a magnum or micro dude. He said he has a lot of ‘hats’ but for the hilarious answer watch the video and don’t forget to catch the powerful film “I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking).  It will make you laugh, cry and bring awareness to an important problem that too many of us overlook.
So, if you haven’t already, scroll up to the top of the page and check out our exclusive interview with Deon Cole and Kellie Kali.
Interview/article by Jazmyn Summers. Follow her @jaztalk1 on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. And subscribe to her YouTube channel. Video editing by www.patrickhousefilms.com
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