*We caught up with actor/comedian/rap artist, Page Kennedy (“The Meg”) to dish about his return to the small screen in Netflix’s new comedy series, “The Upshaws,” starring opposite Mike Epps, Wanda Sykes and Kim Fields.
Per press release, the series follows an African American family in Indiana that struggles to make it work. Epps portrays the head of the household, Bennie Upshaw while Page portrays Duck, Bennie’s ex-con and newly religious best friend. Duck served a seven-year stint in prison after being involved in a heist gone bad — where Bennie got away. Now, he works with a grateful Bennie in his garage and is his biggest cheerleader.
When Page isn’t acting he is equally devoted to another passion of his, rap music. His latest and third studio album, “Page”, features production by Grammy award-winning Aftermath producer Focus, Mic West and guest artists Method Man, Elzhi, Xzibit, Ali Caldwell, Lonny Bereal and Chief Wakil. The album also features a track dedicated to Black women, called “Queen.” Check out what Page had to say about the song and forthcoming music video in our conversation below, and get the scoop on his character Duck and what you can expect to see this season on “The Upshaws.”
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YEAAHH BABY! #TheUpshaws
“The Upshaws” review: A fresh, funny family sitcom https://t.co/RCIpGxAjI3— Kim Fields (@KimVFields) May 11, 2021
Your character Duck served seven years in prison for a heist gone bad. How would you describe how he fits into the world of The Upshaws?
So Duck is Mike Epps’, Benny is his character’s name, best friend. We grew up together and we used to get into salacious behavior together. We were going to rob a bank and Benny was the getaway driver, but he was the only one that got away. So I ended up doing seven to 10 for him in prison, I held it down for him. So when I got out, he got me a job at the shop and we back to being homeys again. The only difference is I came out a different man. I found God while I was in jail. My whole plight now is trying to live my life that way, and the duality of what my natural, intrinsic behavior is based off of the new behavior that’s learned from prison.
How would you describe their dynamic now? Will viewers see them clash often throughout this season?
Well, I think with any relationship, when you’ve had a certain relationship with someone for an extended period of time, and then you guys go away from each other for a while you come back and it’s different. Sometimes it just takes some getting used to because these aren’t their normal proclivities. So he might ask me to go do something that he would normally just ask me to do extemporaneously and not even think about it, and then I have to remind him and he’s just like, he might even make a snide comment or whatever. It seems so far that he respects it. He just forgets sometimes, and I’m not all the way there, I might get a Bible verse wrong or I might get, when we learn things, we try and use them as much as possible, but sometimes it might not land correctly.
Are we going to see any elements from Duck’s past come back to haunt him?
Well, I don’t think so. Hopefully, there’s no recidivism happening so that I can stick around. I think he’s trying to be on the straight and narrow, at least for now.
#Fear pic.twitter.com/P8LkkwRFU7
— Page Kennedy (@PageKennedy) October 13, 2020
When you’re playing a character like Duck, how much of your own personality, or personality traits from some of your real-life friends, do you draw from?
A lot of times, I like to, because in my characters, I typically try and play myself within the given circumstances of the particular character. Meaning this person can talk slower, talk deeper, moves different than me, but it’s still me in the world of a zombie or a doctor or whatever it is that the circumstances of the character are, but I try and play it as myself. This character, Duck, I don’t know how many similarities that I personally have with him, but his rhythms and the way he speaks and how he just zones out when he looks at something, and in that zoning out what he’s said might be something kind of wild and so people are looking like, what? I don’t even notice that I’ve been saying something crazy. I kind of got his tonality from one of our writers. One of our writers kind of reminds me of Duck, so I kind of model the character after him.
Does Duck have any standout episodes that you’re excited about viewers experiencing this season?
I have to be naked in one of the episodes, which is the first time that I’ve ever had to do that. The reconnaissance for that and preparation for that was interesting for me. I had to go on a, I don’t know, two weeks, all-liquid diet. I remember them telling me before we went home to break in December. They’re like, you better not be drinking no eggnog while you’re at home over Christmas break, because they didn’t fully tell me what was going to happen. They was just letting me know that I need to have my body right.
So now I was like, nervous because I was like, what does this mean? Do I have a sex scene? So when I found out what I was going to be doing, I was like, oh man. I had to prepare for that. I think that’s episode three. So that particular episode I think is a good one for Duck. We’re still fresh and getting to know him.
Family and brotherhood seem to be two common themes that tie this series together. Are there other vital themes that you’re hoping viewers take away?
So I think the heartbeat of this show is Kim Fields because Mike and Wanda’s hilarity are reminiscent of Pam and Gina from Martin, where they just have this truculent behavior back and forth with one another and all this animus that spews from them. Kim, although she is hilariously funny, she is the person that grounds it all and brings the real heart in it, because she’s the mom, she’s the nurturer and she’s keeping all of that stuff together. She’s dealing with her man, who has shortcomings but he’s trying and she has to sit in her equanimity and deal with it. She deals with all of his irreverence and she wears it with grace. Then she also has the kids to deal with as well as the external marriage child that comes around as well. So she is the person that kind of grounds the whole thing. All of the heart comes from Kim Fields, the legend.
Working with two legends like Kim Fields and Mike Epps, how would you describe the creative energy that they each bring to the set?
Well, Mike always keeps everybody laughing because he’s so free and fun and funny. The frivolity that he provides is always a good time. It lends to an air of levity on the set, and Kim, she’s just extremely professional because she carries a lot of weight and so she’s prepared and her and I have a very close, personal relationship. So that helps as well because that’s my girl.
When the series drops, will you hit up Twitter and follow hashtags related to the show to see what folks think about it?
Yeah. I definitely want to be abreast to all of the happenings and the scuttlebutt that’s going on with the show because you want to see how people are receiving your art that you put out there. So I’m for sure going to be watching that and hoping that it trends number one. I think it should, I don’t think that there’s anything like it on television and I hope that it does really well, so yeah, I’m going to be keeping my eye on it.
I’d like to think that every project is an opportunity to learn something new about your craft, about the filmmaking/TV process, that you can take with you and use on the next project. So I’m wondering, working with legends like Mike and Kim, what is there to learn from these two icons?
I think patience and humility is something that I’ve learned from both of them, because you can only control the things that you can control and the things that you can’t, you have to kind of let go because you don’t want to suffer twice. You don’t want to suffer from whatever is going on as well as you not being able to do anything about it. So I think I’ve learned that from them. Kim is so gracious. I have an album out now called Page, and it’s about the black plight in America during the times that we have right now.
The turbulent times with police brutality, and celebrating black women as queens. Kim was gracious enough to actually star in one of my videos, Safe, which told the tale of an encounter that a black family had with being pulled over by a police officer and something tragic happens. She graced me with her presence on that, and it’s a phenomenal piece of work. Fear and Safe are the two videos that’s on my current album Page. She just came in and she did such an amazing part in that. I just learned grace and humility and patience from her.
What else is on your bucket list? What else should we be looking out for that you’ve got cooking up as 2021 continues to roll out?
Well, mainly for me is the album. I think it’s a very important album, it’s my most important album. It might be the most important album that has come out in 2021 so far. Particularly in support of our people. That is my pride and joy at the moment. So that album has a very serious tone to it. It’s juxtaposed to the show that I have coming out that is there to give you laughter.
I have a song on the album that I think that you might appreciate. It’s called Queen and it’s written for you. So hopefully you get to check that out too.
God bless you for it because we don’t have enough Black male artists doing exactly just that, celebrating Black women. When are you dropping a video for the song?
Well, as soon as everybody is clear to be around each other because I want to have all types of beautiful black women of all ages, sizes, all backgrounds. As soon as we are able to get together, that’s when I’m going to do it.
“The Upshaws” is now streaming on Netflix.
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