Robbie Jones with Jurnee Smollett-Bell

Posted by | Ray Cornelius

Tyler Perry’s Temptation  opens nationwide in theaters this weekend. The explosive romance about forbidden pleasures stars Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Judith, an ambitious married woman whose temptation by a handsome billionaire leads to betrayal and recklessness that forever alter the course of her life.

I had a chance to briefly chat with two of the film’s stars Robbie Jones and Ella Joyce during the recent Atlanta red carpet premiere. Jones plays Harley, the wealthy playboy who entices Judith while Joyce plays her concerned mother Sarah, who warns her about the impeding danger of adultery.

For Jones, playing such a ruthless and conniving character was no walk in the park.  “It was challenging. I am nothing like this guy and it was some stuff that I had to go in dig deep for. I had to identify with the fact that everyone needs love and some people just have destructive ways of showing it.”

joyceFrom Ella Joyce’s perspective, Temptation has a surprising two-fold message: forgiveness and wisdom gained through the misfortunes of others.  “The temptations that we succumb to are often times attached to consequences. Yes, we can go back and ask for forgiveness and we’ll get it through Christ. But some of those choices, we’ll just have to live with.”

Joyce went on to explain, “Sometimes the Lord will use us and our mistakes to help others.  That’s one of the most powerful pieces in the thread of what Tyler wrote that I thought was brilliant.”  Joyce, who laughed about ‘always playing somebody’s mama in a film,’ just wrapped up production on the highly-anticipated Nina Simone film starring Zoe Saldana.  She also appeared in six episodes of TV One’s newest original comedy series Belle’s  starring Keith David and Elise Neal.  Joyce says the show was received well and hopes the series will be picked up for a second season.  “A lot of the fans have been writing in saying ‘This is the type of show they want to see.’  So we’re hoping TV One will attract the kind of sponsors that will enable them to bring the show back for another season.”

RC hopes that Belle’s  gets picked up as well.

You can also catch Robbie Jones as Robin Given’s son and Keke Palmer’s brother in this season’s 90210.

Temptation  opens in theaters today!

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