Acting Up with Cortney Wills
Acting Up
Playlist by Acting Up with Cortney WillsActing up is smart, relevant and dedicated to supporting Black Excellence in Hollywood. Hosted by Cortney Wills, TheGrio’s Entertainment Director and pop culture junkie, covering music, TV and film si…Follow the podcast:
70 clip(s) in playlist
Bass Reeves and How the West Was Won with David Oyelowo
Actor and producer David Oyelowo joins Cortney to talk about his latest passion project, Lawmen: Bass Reeves. The project is a Western television miniseries based on the life of the first African American Deputy U.S. Marshal, Bass Reeves. David and Cortney talk about the hurdles of getting the proj…
19:22
It Comes Down to Choice, with Da'Vine Joy Randolph
As we head into Oscars weekend, Black Hollywood has much to be proud of in 2024. Danielle Brooks, Sterling K. Brown, Colman Domingo, Jeffrey Wright, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph all earned nominations. On this episode of Acting Up, Cortney Wills chats with Best Supporting Actress nominee Da’Vine Joy …
29:16
Say It Loud: The Influential and Complicated Legacy of James Brown
Cortney sits down with filmmaker Deborah Riley Draper to discuss her new documentary, James Brown: SAY IT LOUD. The pair speak about James Brown’s role in the Black Power Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, Brown’s iconic song “Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud,” slavery’s influence on Black enter…
28:17
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor on "Origin", Inhumanity & Inequity
In the season 3 debut, Cortney sits down with actress Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor about her new film, Origin, written and directed by Ava DuVernay. Cortney and Aunjanue have an honest conversation about the origins of hate and inhumanity on and off the screen, including why she believes Origin is not get…
29:07
The Ring Before Spring: Black women and the MRS Degree
Cortney Wills is joined by Eboni K. Williams, who responds to the backlash she received after a recent episode of “theGrio with Eboni K. Williams” examined the trend of white women seeking their MRS degrees in college. The ladies take a deep dive into the nerves she struck when she advised Black wo…
53:40Explicit
Return to Wakanda
On this week’s episode of Acting Up, Cortney Wills takes us back to Wakanda and dives in to the highly anticipated film ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’. She sits down with actress Lupita Nyong'o to find out how her character Nakia’s journey through grief compared to her own experience mourning the…
28:37
Trees of Peace
On this week's episode of Acting Up, Cortney Wills sits down with Nicole Avant and Alanna Brown to discuss their riveting film 'Trees of Peace'. Based on a true story, the heart-wrenching project is centered on four women who forge an unbreakable bond while in hiding during the genocide in Rwanda.…
37:23
Taking in ‘TILL’
On this weeks episode of Acting Up, Cortney Wills is joined by Michael Harriot to discuss ‘TILL’ the new film that highlights the life and work of Mamie Till-Mobley, a mother who galvanized the Civil Rights Movement after her 14-year-old son Emmet Till was lynched in 1955. Starring Danielle Deadw…
36:02
Michelle Buteau: Survival of the Thickest
On this week's episode of Acting Up, Cortney Wills sits down with Michelle Buteau. The stand-up comedian, actress, and author who has made her mark on screens big and small gets real about what it's like to juggle her booming career and life as a mom of twins and a wife and takes us behind the scen…
27:20
Yvonne Orji: A Whole Me
On this week’s episode of Acting Up, Cortney Wills welcomes Yvonne Orji back to the podcast to hear all about her new comedy special “A Whole Me” debuting on HBO on October 1. Hear how the pandemic helped this beauty become the best version of herself as well as who’s inspiring her comedy these da…
18:02