Zulay Henao
The “Love Thy Neighbor” Interview
with Kam Williams
Hip Hip Zulay!
Zulay Henao was born in Medellin, Colombia on May 29, 1979, and moved to the United States with her family at 4 years-old with her parents. Living in New Jersey, she knew from an early age that she wanted to be an actress. However, Zulay didn’t follow the conventional route to fame. In fact, she took a pit stop and joined the United States Army after graduating from high school.
While stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, she found time to study at Methodist College. After completing her commitment to the military, Zulay decided to finally pursue her dream of performing.
She enrolled at the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, where she would study for several years. It was during this tenure that her break came when she landed the female lead in Feel the Noise starring opposite music sensation Omarion.
It was then that Hollywood insiders began to take notice of her irresistible beauty and talent. She was hand selected by writer-director Tom Skull to star in his horror feature Grizzly Park produced by Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead’s Belle Avery. Next would be the role that would really put Zulay on Hollywood’s radar – a starring role as Channing Tatum’s love interest in Fighting.
She would subsequently go on to star in John Singleton’s Takers alongside the star-studded cast of Paul Walker, Idris Elba, Michael Ealy, Hayden Christensen, Chris Brown, Matt Dillon, Zoe Saldana and Jay Hernandez. She also appeared in S. Darko, Boy Wonder and Hostel: Part 3.
No stranger to the small screen, Zulay’s TV credits include guest-starring roles on such series as Grey’s Anatomy, Army Wives, Law and Order: SVU and The Unusuals, as well as the made for TV movie Racing for Time. Next year, she will appear in Tyler Perry’s Single Mom’s Club alongside Amy Smart, Nia Long, Terry Crews and Eddie Cibrian.
Here, she talks about playing Marianna on Love Thy Neighbor, a new TV sitcom written and directed by Tyler Perry and airing on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN Network. The show premieres on May 29 at 9 PM ET/PT. [Check local listings]
Kam Williams: Hi Zulay, thanks for the interview.
Zulay Henao: Hi Kam! Thank you for the opportunity to talk to you and reach your readers.
KW: What interested you in Love Thy Neighbor?
ZH: This role was very important to me because I had the opportunity to portray an educated, professional, sexy, and powerful Latina on mainstream television.
KW: Tell me a little about the sitcom?
ZH: Love Thy Neighbor, to me, is a sitcom about life and friends with a comedic spin, with a cast of characters that we can all relate to!
KW: How would you describe your character, Marianna?
ZH: Tyler wrote me into the show and I feel blessed! She is strong-willed yet kind, sensitive, and emotional. I like to think that she is the voice of reason within the group.
KW: What’s it like having your first starring role on a television series?
ZH: First and foremost, I feel so excited to be working with Tyler Perry and Oprah! I am in complete alignment with their brand and the change they want to create in the world through the media and arts. Being on this television show is a huge platform for me, a unique opportunity to reach my demographic in a way that motivates and empowers. I feel truly blessed.
KW: Does each episode have a moral, or is it just being played for laughs?
ZH: Yes, I believe that is the common thread we've all come to love about Tyler Perry and Oprah's brand. There is always something to learn or reflect on. I truly love this aspect of my work on the show!
KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?
ZH: I can't think of any right now, I run into very interesting people in my life and interviews like these. You guys got it covered!
KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good laugh?
ZH: I love a good laugh. My brother, sister, and I just spent the weekend together, which is rare because we all live in different states, laughing at childhood memories!
KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?
ZH: Latin food is my guiltiest pleasure and my demise. My trainer hates when I go home to visit my mom and her cooking. [Laughs]
KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?
ZH: I am currently reading “The Circle Maker” by Mark Batterson. It's phenomenal! I highly recommend it.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0310330734/ref%3dnosim/thslfofire-20
KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What was the last song you listened to?
ZH: I just sang my heart out to "Ahora Quien" by Marc Anthony.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0002IQNV0/ref%3dnosim/thslfofire-20
KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?
ZH: I love to mix things up and create new dishes in the kitchen. I love cooking shrimp scampi and having a glass of Pinot Grigio while listening to music.
KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?
ZH: The power of God, love, and human potential.
KW: The Uduak Oduok question: Who is your favorite clothes designer?
ZH: Oscar de la Renta.
KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?
ZH: Wow! I truly love this. When I look in the mirror I see my parents’ sacrifices being honored. I see the love from which I was created and the power of the human spirit.
KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?
ZH: I would wish for one last experience and conversation with my grandfather.
KW: The Jamie Foxx question: What would you do, if you only had 24 hours to live? Would you do the bad stuff, you never got a chance to do, or would you do good stuff to make sure you make it into heaven?
ZH: If I had 24 hours to live I wouldn't waste it on doing the "bad" stuff. I would savor every moment, every memory, and every loved one.
KW: The Kerry Washington question: If you were an animal, what animal would you be?
ZH: I think this has changed over time. At this moment, I would be a horse. They are intelligent, powerful, beautiful, and graceful.
KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?
ZH: My earliest memory is of me crying at the airport in Medellin, Colombia as I said goodbye to my father when we were headed for America. I was 4.
KW: The Anthony Mackie question: Is there something that you promised to do if you became famous, that you still haven’t done yet?
ZH: Yes, I'd like to buy my mother her dream home. Hopefully it will happen soon.
KW: The Melissa Harris-Perry question: How did your first big heartbreak impact who you are as a person?
ZH: Heartbreak is essential. We grow, evolve, and learn about the most beautiful thing ever: Love! My first heartbreak taught me that love is supposed to ADD beauty and happiness to my already love-filled life!
KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person you pretend to be on the red carpet?
ZH: There's this whole sexy thing that happens to women when we walk the red carpet, and it's all okay! At home, I am so many other things! I am just a girl dreaming. I am emotional and goofy.
KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?
ZH: I'd like to be able to see into people's hearts.
KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share?
ZH: Self-awareness and kindness. Being a generous giver!
KW: The Michael Ealy question: If you could meet any historical figure, who would it be?
ZH: I would love to meet Martin Luther King. His fearless attitude, leadership, and self-awareness changed our world.
KW: The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?
ZH: Yes!! I would love to play Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind!
KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?
ZH: Always be who YOU are, be self-aware, and love yourself tremendously!
KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: What is your favorite charity?
ZH: I like the influence and responsibility the Red Cross has become known for.
KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?
ZH: I would like to be remembered as someone who gave it all and went for it all, As a woman of strong conviction, character, dignity, and talent who always put God first.
KW: Thanks again for the time, Zulay, and best of luck with the new show.
ZH: Thank you so very much, Kam. God bless you!
To see Zulay talking about her role on Love Thy Neighbor, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oqAl-ZoYms
Fast & Furious 6
Film Review by Kam Williams
It’s important to note that this edition of Fast & Furious is every bit as funny as it is adrenaline-fueled. Most of the laughs come courtesy of comic relief provided by Tyrese, who is back in an expanded role as trash-talking Roman Pearce, a card-carrying member of the fugitive gang of auto thieves led by macho Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel).
Like a latter-day Stepin Fetchit, Roman revives a slew of offensive African-American stereotypes, behaving in an alternately shallow, jive, flamboyant, lecherous, felonious and cowardly manner, doing everything but put on a dress to make a joke work. To Tyrese’s credit, the campy performance somehow works, either because the character is so ingratiating, or because of the presence of several respectable other blacks in the principal cast.
Whether entertaining a bevy of scantily-clad beauties on his personal jet (with “It’s Roman, bitches!” emblazoned on the fuselage) or making money literally rain out of an ATM to the delight of a crowd of appreciative strangers picking the bills up off the ground, the scene-stealing cynosure is always the center of attention. Well, except during the action, chase and fight scenes when the muscle cars and muscle heads take charge.
Other than Tyrese’s, the acting is uniformly wooden and unconvincing. Not to worry, this stunt driven-spectacular is all about the eye-popping special effects, and boy does it deliver in terms of the wow factor!
The plot of F&F 6 is little more than a lame excuse to pit an army of bad guys against an army of worse guys, both as simplistically-drawn as tag teams of opposing professional wrestlers. Here’s the storyline in 25 words or more. Dominic coaxes his cohorts (Tyrese, Paul Walker, Ludacris, Sung Kang and Gal Gadot) out of retirement for one last adventure, after rumors surface that his late-ex, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), might miraculously still be alive.
They hatch a plan to rescue the damsel in distress who’s suffering from amnesia and currently in the clutches of Owen Shaw (Luke Evans), a worthy adversary specializing in vehicular warfare. His posse’s recent attack on a Russian military convoy explains why Diplomatic Security Service agent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) is desperately seeking the assistance of Dominic’s crew.
They agree on the condition that, should this mission succeed, they’ll be granted clemency for the host of crimes committed in F&F episodes 1-5. Hobbs okays the deal, and soon, a dogfight featuring fisticuffs, pyrotechnics and plenty of cartoon physics unfolds all over London, involving not only souped-up autos and state-of-the-art gadgetry, but a tank and a plane, to boot.
The epitome of a summer blockbuster, complete with a post-credits set-up of F&F 7 (already slated to be released in July of 2014). Just remember to check your brain at the box office, and you won’t be disappointed.
Excellent (4 stars)
PG-13 for sexuality, profanity, mayhem, violence and intense action
Running time: 130 minutes
Distributor: Universal Pictures
To see a trailer for Fast & Furious 6, visit
Better Things, a film about artist Jeffrey Catherine Jones, a transgender painter, illustrator, and comics artists, is guided and shaped by a group of creators who were influenced by and worked with Jeffrey at various stages of her life. Download Now
The Hangover Part III
Film Review by Kam Williams
When we last left the wolfpack, the boys were over in Thailand for the wedding of Stu (Ed Helms) and Lauren (Jamie Chung).Of course, before the bride and groom could tie the knot (Justin Bartha), the men found themselves separated from Doug and suffering from amnesia following a wild night of partying on the seedy side of Bangkok.
But that was two years ago and now everybody has settled down safely into humdrum, uneventful lives in suburban Los Angeles. Everybody except Alan (Zach Galifiniakis), that is. He went off his meds recently which might explain such bizarre behavior as driving down the freeway with a giraffe in a trailer.
Since the 42 year-old goofball is unlikely to get hitched any time soon, another bawdy bachelor party is not on the horizon. However, when Alan takes a turn for the worse after his father (Jeffrey Tambor) passes away suddenly, his pals stage an intervention and decide to drive him to a mental health facility in Arizona for the help he desperately needs.
But before they arrive, their car is run off the road and Doug is kidnapped for ransom by Chow (Ken Jeong), the modestly-endowed, trash-talking mobster you should remember from Hangover episodes I and II. He and his henchman (Mike Epps) demand that the wolfpack retrieve $21 million in gold stolen from them by Marshall (John Goodman), a ruthless rival who stashed the bars of bullion in the walls of a mansion located somewhere in Tijuana.
That is wacky point of departure of The Hangover Part III, a supposed trilogy finale which is an improvement over the decidedly derivative prior installment yet still pales in comparison to the zany original. At least you don’t develop a nagging sense of déjà vu watching this screwball adventure, even if it isn’t exactly laugh out loud funny.
The madcap antics take Phil (People Magazine’s reigning Sexiest Man Alive Bradley Cooper) and the rest of the road warriors south of the border and then on to Las Vegas, the place where it all started, for another round of raunchy male-bonding rituals. Stu stumbles upon his ex (Heather Graham) and Alan crosses paths with the woman of his dreams (Melissa McCarthy), a big hint that the trilogy is destined to be stretched into a fourple.
A nutty kitchen sink comedy ending on a cliffhanger designed to keep diehard fans of the depraved franchise in suspense about whether yetta nudder sequel might be in the works.
Very Good (3 stars)
Rated R for sexuality, drug use, violence, brief nudity and pervasive profanity
Running time: 100 minutes
Distributor: Warner Brothers
To see a trailer for The Hangover III, visit
Michelle Rhee
The “Radical” Interview
with Kam Williams
Michelle Rhee was born on Christmas Day, 1969 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A first-generation Korean-American descended from a long line of educators, she embarked on a career as a teacher in inner-city Baltimore soon after graduating from Cornell University with a BA in government.
However, her star really started to rise after she earned a Masters Degree in Public policy at Harvard University’s prestigious Kennedy School. She was subsequently recruited by NYC School Chancellor Joel Klein to help handle his stalled contract talks with the teachers’ union.
And on the strength of Michelle’s negotiations with UFT president Randi Weingarten, Klein recommended his feisty protégé for the top job in DC. Washington’s public schools were among the worst performing in the nation, and Rhee found a very receptive Mayor in Adrian Fenty, who gave his new hire free reign to overhaul his troubled system in accordance with her controversial reforms.
She would spend a stormy three years in the public eye as the embattled Schools Chancellor of the Washington, DC public schools. Employing a “kids first” philosophy, Michelle chopped heads in the top-heavy administration, firing dozens of dead wood principals, laying off hundreds of extraneous office workers and closing over twenty underperforming schools.
Although students’ test scores improved dramatically during her brief stint in the position, her anti-union stance proved unpopular. Mayor Fenty’s reelection bid was basically a referendum on whether the city wished to continue with Rhee’s scorched earth philosophy. When he lost, her days were numbered, so she handed in her resignation rather than wait around to be fired.
Michelle, a mother of two, is married to former NBA star Kevin Johnson, who is now the Mayor of Sacramento, California. Here, she talks about currently serving as CEO of StudentsFirst, a political advocacy organization she founded in 2010 to advance the cause of educational reform.
Kam Williams: Hi Michelle, thanks for the interview. It’s an honor to have the opportunity.
Michelle Rhee: Thanks so much, Kam. It’s a pleasure for me.
KW: I really enjoyed reading Radical. It humanized you in a way I hadn’t expected, since you came to be presented in the press as such a polarizing figure by the end of your tenure in DC. I found it very informative and moving, especially where you talk about your family, your childhood and your education.
MR: I’m glad.
KW: For instance, I was surprised to learn that you had taken Black Studies courses as an undergrad at Cornell, since that was my major there.
MR: Yes, I took a fair number of courses in the Africana Studies department.
KW: Tell me a little about your new organization, StudentsFirst.
MR: I started StudentsFirst when I left DC, essentially because of what had happened to my boss [Mayor Fenty]. I had very naively taken the job believing that, if we worked hard for the kids and produced results, people would want it to continue. But I learned that that was absolutely not the case, that people were less focused on the results than on the process and the personalities. The problem was that we didn’t have any political muscle through which we could support and defend a person like Fenty. So, that’s why I founded StudentsFirst, to create an environment where we have a powerful political force advocating on behalf of children. We now have two million members across the country who are putting pressure on their elected officials to put the right laws and policies into effect.
KW: Where did you get the confidence that you could create a national organization from nothing?
MR: From a combination of things. Being able to announce the launch on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and saying that we were going to get a million members and raise a billion dollars in a year was huge. People thought I was crazy. But I have long believed that there are many people out there who are incredibly frustrated with the educational system. I felt that if we could capture that sentiment, and mobilize them to take action and organize others in their communities, then this could be a very powerful force.
KW: The cynic in me wonders whether your organization really has widespread grassroots support, or if it is basically being backed by some arch-conservative billionaires like the Koch brothers.
MR: This is driven by everyday people. Our average donation is $84. I get why the other side might try to frame it as a right-wing movement, but the bottom line is I am a life-long Democrat. My husband is a Democratic politician. I was appointed by a Democrat. The vast majority of the goals on our policy agenda are similar to what President Obama and his administration are advocating.
KW: I tried teaching in an inner-city public school after I first graduated from Cornell, but was quickly disillusioned by things like social promotion and low expectations. So, I admire how you took a similar path, but stuck in there, perhaps because you came from a family of educators.
MR: One of the reasons I wrote the book was to tell my story and to talk about my journey with educational reform, so people can understand why I have the views I have today. I have an absolutely unshakable faith in kids, grounded in the fact that I worked for three years in one of the worst public schools in Baltimore, with kids most people would write off because of their backgrounds. But, when I set high expectations, at the end of the day, these kids went from scoring at the bottom on standardized tests, to scoring at the top, despite their unfortunate circumstances. I actually saw what could happen with my own two eyes. That experience set a light bulb off in my head that any kids could do it, if you create the right school environment. That’s what drives me every day. Why wouldn’t we as a country want to do that?
KW: What do you think of school vouchers, charter schools, lotteries and heartbreaking documentaries like Waiting for Superman?
MR: If you lived in a neighborhood with a failing public school, and you had an opportunity to take advantage of a voucher or other program that would allow you to send your child to a better school, there isn’t a single parent who would say “no.” That’s why movies like Waiting for Superman are so helpful. They show things from the perspective of inner-city families who would do anything to ensure a decent education for their kids. That shatters stereotypes in a very powerful way.
KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: What was the biggest lesson you learned from your experience in DC?
MR: We were taking the right steps to fix a dysfunctional school system. But I didn’t realize at the time that how you do things is just as important as what you do.
KW: Harriet also asks: How can we empower educational systems on the local level that have such drastic financial concerns that they’re making very round corners?
MR: We are in tough economic times right now, and the first thing we have to do is look at how we’re spending the dollars that we have, and at what kind of return on investment we’re getting. Because I think it will show that spending more money without fixing the fundamental flaws in the system won’t produce anything different in terms of results. In DC, we were spending a whole lot of money on things that had no positive impact on students’ achievement levels.
KW: Kate Newell asks: How committed are you to saving art programs in schools?
MR: Even though we closed 15% of the schools in DC my first year, we were able to put an art teacher, a music teacher, a P.E. teacher, a librarian, a nurse and a guidance counselor or social worker at every school in the district, whereas before, only the wealthy schools had art teachers, because that community could have an auction and hire art teachers on its own. We pooled the resources for all the schools and thereby broadened the resources available to all the students in the district, which I think was critical.
KW: Are you a stereotypical Asian “Tiger Mom”?
MR: [Chuckles] Do I hold high expectations of them? Yeah. But we all have to have more rigorous expectations of our kids in this country.
KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?
MR: I just see a mom. That’s who I am and what drives my actions and decisions every day.
KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?
MR: Being in nursery school, and hearing the teachers saying, “She’s slow.” I remember thinking, “You don’t know anything about me.”
KW: Thanks again for the time, Michelle, and best of luck with all your endeavors.
MR: I appreciate it, Kam. Thanks.
To order a copy of Michelle Rhee’s memoir, “Radical,” visit:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0062203983/ref%3dnosim/thslfofire-20
To order a copy of the PBS Frontline episode “The Education of Michelle Rhee,” visit:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00B1E6CYW/ref%3dnosim/thslfofire-20