Posted by | Ray Cornelius
If you were like me, “A Different World” was a staple in your house every Thursday night, right after “The Cosby Show.” Although it’s been 25 years since Whitley, Dwayne Wayne, Kim, Freddie, Ron and Jalisa first made our hearts smile, the laughter and memories are still fresh in our minds.
ESSENCE recently caught up with ADW actors Jasmine Guy and Kadeem Hardison to talk about the 25th anniversary of the show, their fondest memories and what their characters, Whitley and Dwayne Wayne would be doing today.
Guy on her most memorable moment…
Debbie [Allen] played a trick on me and there was this scene where Whitley’s birthday comes up and she thinks everybody forgot about her. So, she gets a bottle of wine and goes to her room and takes her picture of Denzel [Washington] and pins it to her pillow. She has this fantastical moment with Denzel. In the middle of this revelry the girls walked in on her. We did the scene once and the audience was laughing. Debbie said let’s do it again because we had some lighting problems. I go to do it again and this time I really rev it up. Right [when] the girls [were] coming to tap me on the shoulder, it was the real Denzel. I freaked out! I thought I was seeing a ghost. I thought I concentrated so hard that he appeared. I kind of climbed into the bed away from him at first. Of course I look terrified. Of all the times I wanted to meet the real Denzel, that’s how I met him. [Laughs]
Hardison on dating Cree Summers (Freddie) while playing Jasmine Guy’s love interest on the show…
That wasn’t even my concern at the time. Dominic [Hoffman], Jasmine’s boyfriend at the time, did some spots on the show. It’s like you have your work wife and home wife. But your home wife also happens to work with you. As much as that could have been sticky, they were so in love with each, it was never an issue. Good God, if you thought me and Darryl were close, he and Jasmine were inseparable. They brought out the silliness in each other.
Guy and Hardison on where their characters would be today…
GUY: I think they’d still be married. I think they’d have a son and he’d be in early adulthood. I think Whitley would still be trying to make Dwayne the man she wanted for her status in society. His concern would always be to take care of her, to take care of his family, be very diligent and hard working. He would also have a love and a tolerance for Whitney that never dies. I think she would still be very controlling and very much in her son’s life too. A happy marriage… but after 20 years, I think some conflict coming up now that their son is gone and they’re less focused on him. Especially for Whitley, I think she might have some sort of crisis, like an identity crisis.
HARDISON: I think four kids in. Still married. Still fighting. Upper middle class probably. Still in love.
Jasmine Guy is gearing up to direct a version of the Broadway play Mountain Top this fall, while Kadeem Hardison will be starring in the new CW show, Cult airing next year.
Click here for the full interview
