Essence.com: You've also been under the same fire as Tisha and Duane regarding your sexuality. There have been silly rumors that you left your first husband for MC Lyte and dated her for a few years before hooking up with your daughter's father.
T.A.: (Laughs) No, not at all. You know you're not famous until someone accuses you of being gay. I know a lot of people in Hollywood so I can see them making up stuff like that. It doesn't bother me. I pay it no attention.
Essence.com: Why do you think it is that everyone is so fascinated with what celebs are doing in their bedrooms?
T.A.: Because it comes with the territory. It's our responsibility as public figures to be cognizant of how we're being seen. If you don't want to be accused of being an alcoholic, then don't be seen drunk. Unfortunately, creating rumors is a business. �Unfortunately, you can't control rumors and I don't worry about dispelling any because to do that would mean I'm giving credence to any lies that might be out there about me.
Essence.com: What's the craziest rumor you've heard about yourself?
T.A.: I just heard that I was dating a white man. Yes, I've dated a white guy for about two years before (and for the record, it isn't the French actor I've been shot with a few times, he's just a friend) but Black men are my preference. It's just something about the Black man, he's just so� ooooh (laughs). I'm not downing any interracial relationships because you love who you love and I don't put limits on who I love. But I'm the type of person who needs an individual who understands all of me. It makes it a lot easier when you have someone from the same heritage.
Essence.com: There was a while after Martin that we didn't see or hear from you. Where were you?
T.A.: I wasn't working! There was a minute when I wasn't working. I'm going to call it a 10-year span where I didn't book any other show. I made guest appearance on
One on One,
Jamie Foxx, and quite a few other shows, but I never got steady work. But I was moving and working. I did a lot of theater, I was in the studio—I did a little bit of everything.
Essence.com: And what happened to your China Moon Rags fashionable headscarfs?
T.A.: I stopped producing China Moon Rags when I started Everybody Hates Chris. I couldn't run it anymore, so I just shut it down until I have time to devote to it. But I'm going to start it again.
Essence.com: I also hear you are singing again? When is the album dropping?
T.A.: Yeah, singing is my first love and it paid the bills before anything else. I'm getting back into It, but Tisha [Campbell Martin] teases me all the time like, 'Girl stop talking about how you going to make an album because you been working on that album for 15 years!' And I was like, 'Shuddup!' But I'm into making sure that I give the right stuff, I'm not just going to give people anything. When I make an album, you damn skippy people gonna buy it 'cause if I don't believe in it, I'm not gonna do anything I don't believe it. It got to be right.
Essence.com: Just make sure you don't get corny material.
T.A.: I know! It's very hard. People will give you b--------- and I'm like, 'Hold up this is my career!'
Essence.com: Well you have one great songwriter and that's your daughter's father, Carvin Haggins, who has written great stuff for Musiq and other artists.
T.A.: (Laughs) I know! Yep you know it's so crazy because that's how he and I got together; I was in the studio with him.
Essence.com: Awww shucks those late night studio sessions will hem you up every time�
T.A.: (Laughs) Okay! I was like, 'You know what? You tricked me all along and set me up and I didn't even see it coming!'
Essence.com: You two aren't together anymore, but you're still friends?
T.A.: (Laughs) Yes, I'm friends with all my ex-partners. My mother and my sister said, 'How is it that you remain friends with all your ex-boyfriends?' It's all good--ain't no hard feelings.
Essence.com: So how long were you two together?
T.A.: Two-and-half years. The thing is, I'm extremely monogamous. I can only give my heart to one person at a time. I'm not a juggler at all.
Essence.com: And you've been about your business. Word on the street is you landed a dramatic leading role. Tell me about it.
T.A.: For years people have told me I needed to play a dramatic role so I've been contemplating it and now it's come my way. It's an indie film called
The Lena Baker Story. Ironically, I was asked to play her in a play, but I'd already accepted the film role. I play Lena Baker, a Black woman who ends up having an affair with her white boss, some might even say his sex slave. Their relationship is dysfunctional and ends in tragedy for both of them—Baker is executed after killing him and then pardoned 60 years later. They had a love/hate relationship: they were both alcoholics but came from two different places and somehow found each other. This character is going to represent so many women who are between a rock and a hard place. The issues she faces transcends race.
Essence.com: So was this role a taxing undertaking for you?
T.A.: Physically I was tired and emotionally just drained. I cried real tears because I wanted the role to be as realistic as possible. I also mastered a southern accent�there were a lot of new experiences for me and it pushed me as an actress.
Essence.com: If someone asked you to make a personal assessment about yourself what would it be?
T.A.: That I worked hard, I've made all the right choices in my life and even in my mistakes that people have and will learn something. I'm a realist not a sugar coater, so it's not easy. But I believe in always letting people know what their obstacles are. And at the end of the day, I just want to be respected for my hard work.
SOURCE: ESSENCE.COM 
