Michael Ealy is one of the greatest actors of our generation. He’s appeared in countless classics like “For Colored Girls,” “Think Like a Man,” and “Barbershop 2.” Ealy and CÎROC partnered for the launch of the Blue Dot Creative Residency (BDCR), a residency that is taking an innovative initiative to championing creativity, mentorship, storytelling and celebration by giving storytellers the opportunity to bring their passion projects to life. Ealy stepped into the Star Studio to talk about CÎROC and some of his iconic roles.
If you could create your own CÎROC flavor, what would you create?
Probably I’d have to say watermelon and blueberry. Crazy mix, right? But in all seriousness, in all honesty, I’d say that’s a favorite, because I’ve had it in a smoothie flavor before, and it’s absolutely nuts.
Do you ever get hate from your role in “For Colored Girls?”
Yes, but it’s never negative. People come up to me and they say, how could you do that? Or I’m still mad at you. But then they show nothing but love. They see that I’m not that guy, you know what I mean. And they still want to take a picture, and we still laugh and joke about it. I think, you know, I think people sometimes use it as a great segway to kind of introduce themselves. And that’s cool, too. But I haven’t experienced any real backlash from that role, per se. I think when people see me, they got nothing but love, and I got nothing but love for them.
Barbershop series or Think Like A Man Series?
Well, I don’t think you can separate the two, and here’s why; both franchises started with me and the same director, Tim Story. Okay, so I, I will always hold them both near and dear to my heart, because in both situations, we were David amongst Goliath, both situations and we somehow, some way, we were The Little Engine That Could. We made movies for under $12 million and they both, you know, grossed over like 80, 90 million. So, in both situations, I look at them and hold them both kind of dear to my heart as franchise projects.
How important is a male friend group like you had in the “Think Like A Man” series?
I think a group of male friends is like a lifeline, man, I really do. I can’t imagine life without a tight knit group of guys now. It’s rare for all of us to be in the same place at the same time but when we do get together… man. I remember last summer, some of my friends, we got together in New York. One of my boys was on Broadway, and we all went and saw the show, and it was like a college fraternity weekend, like I was sleeping on a sofa bed. Like it was just nuts. I was telling him the other day, like I haven’t laughed that hard since, since, like…. it was absolutely needed. It’s a lifeline. We need laughter. Your boys always provide that for you. And, quite frankly, as you get older and life gets a little bit more real, and adulting becomes a little bit more prevalent in your life. Yeah, you’re going to need those brothers to keep you whole.
