![\"Bryan](\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bryan-terrell-clark-ftr.jpg?quality=100&w=384&h=216&crop=1\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/p>\n
Bryan Terrell Clark<\/strong><\/a> will rave about Diarra From Detroit every chance he gets. That\u2019s how much he loves this show. The actor stars in the upcoming BET+ series, premiering March 19, that\u2019s putting a spin on the noir genre. The show follows a divorcing schoolteacher named Diarra who goes down the rabbit hole to figure out what happened to the Tinder date that ghosted her.<\/p>\n Bryan plays Mr. T, Diarra\u2019s close friend and colleague. It just so happens that Bryan and Diarra are friends in real life as well. For Bryan, this role is a \u201cbig deal\u201d for him because \u201cas a queer Black man, it\u2019s very rare that I get to see the kind of man that I am and a lot of my friends are on television.\u201d Hollywood Life<\/strong> spoke exclusively with the actor about this dream role, working alongside Diarra Kilpatrick<\/strong>, and just how deep Mr. T will go for his friend! Read our Q&A below.<\/p>\n I saw on Instagram that you wrote that this project is a dream come true for you. What does this role mean to you?\u00a0<\/strong> To be able to kind of play a character that reminds me of myself and a lot of my friends, it\u2019s a gift. I say it all the time: queer people are not a monolith, and Black people are not a monolith. We don\u2019t often get a chance to see it. I\u2019m really thankful for heroes in my life like Billy Porter<\/strong> and Colman Domingo<\/strong>. I knew them over a decade ago in theater. It\u2019s just now in the 2020s that they\u2019re really getting a chance to be seen in the media. Even amongst those two friends and mentors, I\u2019m still different than them. It\u2019s beautiful and it\u2019s a blessing to have a friend like Diarra and artists like Diarra who actually want to capture nuance and actually want to capture authenticity when it comes to the roles that she creates. Mr. T is all of those things. He\u2019s educated. He\u2019s hood. He\u2019s straight from the hip. You don\u2019t often get to see the nuances of the kinds of queer men that grew up in cities like Baltimore, Philly, and Detroit. Our voices aren\u2019t often represented on the screen. I\u2019m really grateful for an opportunity to do that.<\/p>\n When discussing the character, did you get to mold Mr. T to be very similar to yourself?\u00a0<\/strong> What is the dynamic between Mr. T and Diarra in the show?<\/strong> Does he get involved in her quest for answers?<\/strong> Does Mr. T have any vocal prowess?<\/strong> You\u2019re also headlining Carnegie Hall in March. How are you feeling about that?<\/strong>![\"Bryan](\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bryan-terrell-clark-embed-2.jpg?quality=100\")
<\/a>
Bryan Terrell Clark: <\/strong>It\u2019s interesting. I had this conversation all day today that sometimes you take the role, and the purpose of that role for you as an artist is to pay your mortgage. Every now and then you get an opportunity to play something that you\u2019re really proud of, and that\u2019s what this is for me. The representation conversation, the diversity conversation, has been brought up again because there\u2019s been lots of promises that have not been met. Shows of color are dropping off like flies, being canceled. Black people who were put in executive positions to help further the morality of our industry have been fired. In the midst of all that, you get a piece like this. The genre is very familiar. It\u2019s a modern noir, but at the center of it is a Black woman. Usually, that space in mysteries and private eye things are reserved for white men, so it\u2019s beautiful to kind of be a part of that. Personally, it\u2019s a big deal for me because, as a queer Black man, it\u2019s very rare that I get to see the kind of man that I am and a lot of my friends are on television. I think there\u2019s an interesting paradox because in our community masculinity is kind of secretly sexy and prized. But in the industry, you don\u2019t often see it unless it\u2019s on the down low.<\/p>\n
Bryan Terrell Clark: <\/strong>Absolutely. It\u2019s interesting because I\u2019ve known Diarra since 2007, so the gift of entering the project was that she knows me very well. She knows my voice very well. When she was crafting this Mr. T, I think she was very clear with everybody about the kind of voice that she wanted to create. Because as her friends, we would always complain about not being seen on television. There are literally direct quote things that I\u2019ve said to her in life in the show. And then I also want to shout out her husband Miles because, as an EP, we had great conversations about scenes and certain language and dialogue just to make sure that we were being true and honest and sensitive and authentic to the people we were representing. Even on set in the middle of a scene, I could ad-lib or I could say, \u201cI feel like he would say this.\u201d It was very collaborative. But also, at the same time, it was very easy because Diarra\u2019s vision was so clear.<\/p>\n
Bryan Terrell Clark: <\/strong>The dynamic between Mr. T and Diarra in the show is the same in real life with us. I always joke around and say when her husband Miles is not around that I\u2019m her work husband. On the show, what\u2019s so fun is that we both work as teachers, and I feel like it\u2019s the same thing. I\u2019m like her work bestie, her work husband, in the show. Our friendship and our chemistry definitely translate on the screen. So when it feels real and it feels authentic, it\u2019s very, very true. I\u2019m very supportive of her. I think she\u2019s brilliant. I\u2019m protective of her, as any brother would a sister. All of that is in the show.<\/p>\n
Bryan Terrell Clark: <\/strong>He gets involved in her mystery reluctantly. I think as all friends are, right? Like, you had that friend that\u2019s dating that person, and you don\u2019t want to say you shouldn\u2019t date this person. You try to find the loving way to say, \u201cDon\u2019t do that because it\u2019s going to end in disaster.\u201d With this situation, you have Diarra chasing after a man who\u2019s ghosted her. So let\u2019s go realistic. Who wants their friend chasing someone who\u2019s not returning their calls? Her theory that something happened and maybe he was kidnapped, what\u2019s crazy about this adventure is it\u2019s true. We decided to kind of go down the rabbit hole right into this other world that is kind of like the underbelly of Detroit, and the adventure takes an interesting dark comedy turn.<\/p>\n![\"Bryan](\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bryan-terrell-clark-embed-1.jpg?quality=100\")
<\/a>
Bryan Terrell Clark: <\/strong>Mr. T may or may not be singing in one of these episodes, which I\u2019m actually really excited about, I\u2019m not going to lie. You\u2019re going to get a chance to see a lot of hidden talents from a lot of characters in the show, but Mr. T has some really shining moments and music is one of them.<\/p>\n
Bryan Terrell Clark:<\/strong> It\u2019s crazy. I feel two ways about Carnegie Hall. March 15 is gonna be a dream come true to the inner child performer in me. That space is legendary, so to be able to stand on that stage and sing with a 70-plus piece orchestra, The New York Pops, and I\u2019m singing Motown music, it\u2019s overwhelming. It\u2019s literally overwhelming. When I think about it. It\u2019s an answered prayer.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n