Orlando Jones

Orlando: I'm of two minds about the NAACP, I'll be brutally honest. When I was writing for 'Sinbad' and 'Roc Live,' I remember the pilot for "Martin" coming on, and a year later, the NAACP giving him an Image Award. A few years later, Martin was under fire for being "coonish" or whatever the word was people were using. And I thought that was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard. You give the guy an Image Award three years in a row and then turn on him like that? If that's the role they want to fulfill, they need to send a clearer message. I want balance. I want to see as many black professionals as possible. I don't care if a guy plays a wild, broad, completely downtrodden character, but I also want to see an average joe; the middle class has been completely unrepresented.

Orlando: Someone I met years ago explained to me the difference between a personality and an actor, a personality being Eddie Murphy or Roseanne Barr, and an actor being Morgan Freeman and Alfre Woodard or Marlon Brando. And in the shrinking world of sound bites, the Internet, and other mass media, there were going to be fewer actors and more personalities.

Orlando: Comedy just seemed like the way in.