Actress Rochelle Aytes and DJ Jon Quick from New York City’s WBLS were joined by a beautiful crowd of mostly women and NFL defensive lineman, Chris Canty, of the Baltimore Ravens as the pair hosted a viewing party for her ABC series “Mistresses” at Harlem hot spot, The Park 112 Restaurant last night. Aytes, a native of Harlem, has seen lots of success on the big screen in films such as White Chicks and Madea’s Family Reunion before hitting the small screen with the show.
I spoke to her last night about what inspired the event. “My girlfriend Leeza (Singh) has been wanting me to throw a viewing party for season one so I really have to credit it to her, and also the owner of the restaurant, The Park 112, Lewis (Tucker), and Jon Quick who is deejaying and he played a large part in promoting it.”
DJ Jon Quick spoke very highly of Aytes. “Rochelle is truly a beautiful soul. Despite her hectic schedule, she always seems to make time for others. It was an honor to help put this event together for one of Harlem’s homegrown superstars.”
Rochelle and I talked about the show that many in attendance were there to see. “Mistresses is about the friendship between these four women and just about our lives and how we deal with relationships and different forms of infidelity. The show is funny, it’s a drama; it’s also very sexy and has lots of mystery to it. My character is April Malloy. I am a single mom and I’m trying to get back into the dating world. I meet a sexy artist who I completely fall for in the second season but he turns out not to be the perfect man. He tells me that he’s married so now I have to make the decision to become a mistress or follow my moral ground and walk away. So that’s the dilemma of April right now.” Sounds like a show we should all tune into!
Before Aytes began her acting career, she was a dancer, appearing most prominently in the video for “Off the Books” by The Beatnuts featuring Big Punisher and Cuban Linx. With that in mind, I asked her about her dream role. “I would like to combine my dancing and my acting skills together at some point.” Hopefully we all get to see the versatility of her talents on screen in the near future.
–derrel jazz johnson
