he's on oprah's network b.n. on a show called greenlee that's not a mega church she kills it she's the matriarch and we'll talk to her about that and we'll talk to her about her long and storied career cool day i chatted with her a little before we went on next linwood field on dennis miller plus one. hey folks welcome to dennis miller plus one and in the age of. you do these things by remote and nobody nobody pulls a remote together like my guest len would fit with got the flow over her right shoulder. with the blots which crew are nate's with the peaches and the ball in the beautiful painting over the other shoulder if the factually on the right it's absolutely beautiful you know. what they'll see is

a emmy award winner and appeared in many films of the a step mom head of state that is family reunion is she currently stars on her own series oprah's dynasty as of the green leaf and she's want to and. it's for her work over there the 5th and final season of the show has pushed out a harbor already at premiered on june 23rd you can find it on w n the own network lynn how are you i'm fine how are you didn't it's i'm group b. and i have not crossed your path in the last 30 years but can i tell. that or that or tuck did in joe's been bigger they just got a leave that one tucked in because you absolutely inhabited that land both you killed that role. so much fun and you know i can still relive those moments like like yesterday actually you know minus the top it's been an advance because you

know years past that yeah it was a great honor to bring that woman to life in it for people to know more about what she did she was extraordinary extraordinary folks when you hear that heavy lemar invented sonar i know there's a documentary out there you've got a clock josephine baker because this woman went from the hard streets of st louis to ill san louis where she was the belle of the ball in the city of lights she did all the great social causes she also well she was this the song and dance darling of paris and i'm telling you i hope her family savers what lynn did with it because she made or it's there for good now it was always there for good she's an immortal but you killed that role good for you thank you thank you so much. you know it's funny. i was there in the down time here i was watching the show the wire which i had never caught up with my son

great show we're sitting there watching it i go wow this is it's up it's here it's a little darker but i said i'm these are you is there ever been a show like this i say well it's well different because it was network but during when i was growing up hill street blues was a monster show and i think that's the 1st time i remember you didn't you were on that show for a while or i. got to be repaid great group of people it was you know actually tori and black girlfriend and it's still in bochco no such a great group of people breaking new ground back then they thought might really be it tough for miley to begin my vow that you are a match you know. it's far different than that but yeah it was an exciting time because this whole idea of. of ensembles and something more rough and rugged it was afoot and which steven bochco is you know became famous for and it was

like a. big change in what t.v. looks like and i got to be like a small part of that it was cool that was very cool and i think comes out of the bochco family goes on to do deadwood they birthed the real thing that when michael conrad would do those meetings at the beginning say stay frosty out there that new yes you're in there were the 1st time you thought well beyond cops there's a whole world there we're not privy to oh yeah absolutely and i also have to give it creators we're going to get to the the show greenleaf which is lynn's current projects in its final season series we have to talk but i also loved you as ray and silverado with you and danny oh my god listen. that was i knew you know we had the same in south it's like oh i'm in hack out now you know

this is like a great thing to be in a cast with kevin costner you know jeff gold bloom and on and on just starts karen klein and every night after we shot. larry would have like food or popcorn drinks and we would watch the dailies so it kind of took the edge off the reference of you know. we could all kind of be in the room together and support each other and our own that grotto in new mexico where they built that whole city of sober auto and guess what littleton my pantaloons what they were a little peddling you know had all these costumes western costume we did it right you know they built around all they you know rented some things and i was putting

on my pantaloons and guess who's name was in it. video and leave. own livy yeah. wow wow wow that is. grand stuff and you know western costume would keep things and it didn't miss it everything i had not to steal them i want to frame them you know i never knew somebody else's drawers could be that important but. you know what's amazing lynn is that i saw a story last week a picture of a livia de havilland riding a bike in paris she's 104 years old and can you will leave we're going back to scarlett miss melia still alive living in paris i was riding a bike as late as last week that blew my mind how inspiring is that how

is that you know now you know well known spider bite her for sure now well listen i'm telling you to let me let you work for a person who probably one of the most and inspirational people of our era oprah over on her network on the show greenlee and is there any truth to the story that at the beginning oprah was going to play the character or to tell me about tell me about how you get the character on greenlee. i think that craig right you know 6 feet under you so great it's been a great show runner for so many shows is a marvelous writer he wrote the pilot and gave it to oprah and said oprah i think you should play a lady mate and after she read it she said i think you're. to people in this that i know should be an end that's lynn whitfield and keith

david so go get them i know and she said she felt that i would be that i would be good for it so yeah lovely to be invited to do something by oprah winfrey right so many times in his business you got to chase that and chase it ard you end up in north hollywood in a fluorescent lip room with 4 money people here than you are. to get a balance start by saying hey i hope for is offered to you know who or what isn't. let's know or i don't know they said well you know you have a conversation with showrunner craig right by phone i said of course oh well i don't know why they wanted me to do this role because she was written like a real sour. ben dress and blue shoes kind of but kind of like a lady who is like ok i'm a christian halle increase the like 5 you know on very judgments all and and

so i said well why do you want me to please you know what i looked last i don't know that this is me he said no what we want you to put your spin on it you know i just seeing that i thought we had the interview by phone and at the end of the conversation he said well so can i call her and tell her you do this because you have to do this because oprah wants you to do this and i said well yes let's go for it and then the negotiations began but it is as an artist you know this is for someone to put confidence in you just off the bat like you don't have to fight for you know work for it somebody says i believe you can breathe life into this and it's it's rare and it's wonderful. you run through walls for that person because there's enough they say are there when you get the guy at the helm and he

looks over at you and gives you the thumbs up or the gal at the helm is all right i can come to work each dead on have to spend an hour get my esteem together i can just dive into this and kill it die and then with authority because people believe it you and i think that's what you know more artists we need that we need or want to say you know we believe in you you don't have to go through hoops we know you we know your work go for it and you go for it with another kind of authority because you're not trying to prove anything except just do your best work you know. i always look at great actors and i think you know i read a book called the inner game of tennis maybe 30 years ago and it translated to life because the guy said if you're not going to swing at the ball and hit out all the way you're going to knock everything out of bounds and that's what great acting is at some point if you're hedging any sort of mental but out there it puts off

a know it everybody senses it it looks studied halting they start to lack confidence in it when you hit out on it you get top spend and the people at home are exhilarated that you've gone for oh yeah it's so much fine and you know when you do that as intended cause i'm a terrible to the slayer but you know if you make it you see it and you see it oh my god. i hope heaven is this good. we're talking a little bit field we're talking about the series greenleaf that's in her final season on oprah's network over there it premiered on june 23rd so we're still really into it you can circle back around that's the great thing with streaming it picked this up but you want to be there as they ride it into the barn because it's a great show and when we come back we're going to talk about lynn start not i touched on a little with hill street silverado but i want to see who made a dent on her who taught her great chops we'll talk about that right after this on

dennis miller plus one with lynn whitfield. uchenna be bold with the yes you like. but the pandemic no certainly no blood isn't just blind to nationalities. you. can see the would be we don't look like. beasts and be.

judged as commentary crisis least. we can do better we should. everyone is contributing each of our own way but we also know that this crisis will not go on forever the challenges created with the response has been so many good people are helping us. it makes us feel very proud that we are in need together. my folks welcome back to dennis miller plus one we're joined by the delightful uncomely lakota cup here to fully orchestrated the color palette isn't the backdrop their language failed and you know or from the josephine baker star and i still have to shake my head and habits that really it's. a crazy good performance go back

and watch it if you haven't seen it greenleaf is the show we're talking about now she's won 2 and the boy c.p. awards for work on their in the 5th and final season started on june 23rd not too far out to harbor so jump in there and take it's set in a mega church with just such a great place to set these things that's such a weird concept to me when it goes from bringing in the sheaves to bringing in the tide this i understand that these churches more of a look at how i'm is where i get a creepy. well that's it you know that's why i wanted to do this right because i feel i owe a lot of that is cut. off kilter and out of control you know when you go from. you know like your whole thing is to save souls and lead people and you get into all this real estate and you know it real estate spending money

making money becomes a thing of. you know pastor appreciate your appreciation and his private planes and rolls royces and and so i want to talk about that and really be a part of a conversation that says that you know hey look you we're not following a man you know the pope is call. these big mega you know hello mark well they don't call telemarketing pastors you know telling. i don't get her homeland but i all i do know is that people find their way to some belief and i try not to question them but for me i want my guy to be nearer to god not because he's in his own gulfstream jet that just doesn't want my cat in sackcloth i want him really humble i want him brought to the cause by the fact of

this deep love and belief he has for us whoever is crazed and i just don't get all the ancillary marketing but what else that i saw that happened that's why it was i was so that's part of the reason that i wanted to do this project because i wanted to you know demystify leadership of any kind really you know because at the in the day it's not a man who is supposed to be following it putting on a pedestal you know men always going to make mistakes with fallible we're you know vulnerable you know and this consequence so to be able to present this family. family business happens to be a mega church with all of its flaws and you're still deep love within the family i just felt like i want to contribute to people being able to look objectively

at leadership and say like is this guy cool right now or maybe he has an issue but in fact that's not what i'm looking at but what i need to get you know the relationship or any spiritual or less whatever your practice is it's very impersonal you know and it shouldn't be looking at men to give us the answers to god or the deity or whatever the practice if it's meditation if it's what you're not looking to that you know doctors lawyers indian chiefs you know anything congressman senators all of that stuff is service jobs they're all service jobs they're there to serve the people pastors are there to save souls so i kind of wanted to be a part in this very dynasty glamorous rate deconstruct. what this is all about so ok we get into the we now with my intellectual. heading into the

weeds you know when i read your notes i came across an interesting interview and where somebody had called you an icon in the interview and you were very polite very demure but you also will not bridle but you weren't quite comfortable with the iconography of that and i study boy that makes sense to me i mean they throw that around too much in this world i think you become a nation on it because you're a pro you show up you're pro you do great work for around 40 years and all of a sudden they start applying i caught on and i would always be comfortable i know warren beatty and jack nicholson always called each other pro and i dug that i dig pros and i think. when you bridle that icon i thought others were with some humility good for her yeah because you know you've been around this is a long time and one of the most i. anti creative things you can do is to start to believe your own high and believe all of that you

know because the minute i start like yes let me tell you young people i've been here on my shoulders you stand it's been hard. and you've got to. listen i don't want the next great gig i want the next great character that i can't you know kind of slip and slide and you know what to stay with you know slaloms like let me take it out and kind of just go for trier out give it some lie read like defender like you know like a trojan horse woman in the you know and that because that's the joy of the fun of it so when people say those things it just sounds like an easy and easy kind of and it's an honor it is a compliment of course but what does that mean that i don't even know what it means

because i'm only as good as the last work i do because just as easily tomorrow i could do so they could say i did you see with this she lost her job so that what next well of course i don't want to use profanity but you know what i mean. you know you're only as good as a careers are made a continuum of work it's not one thing you know next you do so i just when they say that what happens is that i thought oh my god i can't mess up on the next gig if they're thinking like this about me i've got to really you know live up to that and when they start with the legend thing i'm like ok look i know you young actresses want me to get out the way but i'm not going anywhere. that's my approach to showbiz too i never saw the far shore to me it was like a little pond and i was just looking for the next. lily pad to stay dry for a little longer i knew if i did yes bunch led get to the shore but you missed the

point that it is a gig due to the people who are humble about it and bring their toolkit to it for god sakes i was reading in your notes about audrey hepburn and how you dug her now i saw a documentary last night about bill hold that was called the golden boy and they had a scene of her and him from sabrina and sydney on that was talking and he's a some people just habit and bill holden had it and then they cut to the reverse and i thought well bill holden had it audrey hepburn had it like times 10 because she was luminescent and she was always so humble and i always listen to audrey hepburn as the camera coming on are you just sort of stunned at what a big star she you can see on your i certainly i kid i would do my comments actually exactly amen to that. were tigerland woodfield and the show is obviously greenleaf and it's on oprah's network it's in the final

season it premiered on june 23rd so like i said we're not too far out a harbor and with streaming you can go around and catch up on anything you know lynn when we said you were going to be on we got some social media questions and i was wondering if you'd feel a couple from your fandom well well if. you're a legend i absolutely adore you you're a. it's no not. lynn is ready for a close up mr de mille alright matthew on face book. now you know you're so young when you get to josephine baker it's such a key choice assignment i'm trying to think how much progress and matthew policies how much prep was there to play josephine did you just read everything you could. i read everything i could i looked at every bit of silent footage that there was of

her and i study photographs because i think like a picture speaks a 1000 words you know in photographs when someone's on and they're posing for the camera but in those moments when when they don't know the cameras on them and there were a few she was getting off of the ship and there was no sound and she was getting off you know everybody giving her flowers and katie and she was so glamorous and there was about 10 or 20 seconds where she looked like so lost and so lonely in the middle of this you know sea of white people somewhere in europe who were just loving her and this though st louis girl you know a lot of barbecue group just as much as she loved. you know and culture cult and she looked lonely and then inform so much you know

when i saw there's lots of footage of her and she kind of does this thing with her shoulders and to me it looked like don't you think i'm cute do you love me i love you and i use that so i used to and i did not want to talk to a lot of people who knew her because people always have the spend on and i. strong powerful woman like that and it kind of corner. there market of truth on who she is so i didn't want to talk to people but yeah i did lots of research george phase aren't famous choreographer put me once he found out i get dance he locked me in the studio and said you're not leaving and so all this hair in the back of your neck the naveen every every i want you to sweat i want you to work you can do this and so i did everything but the somersault. but the somersault

i think i didn't think i sell so you know working on the studio working with the singer who sang going and singing my instincts with her and then not so 2 months in america it west hollywood right there on their stairs with that dance and then 2 months into the past 2 or 3 months into the past and yeah it's worked my to shop. there must've been so throughly free and boy like you said you gotta call she's a legit got to serve bludger cat so you gotta get in there and do that then sing with the stars the you're coming home one of the absinthe just to get it right are you kidding me and i am i am so over 100 well you realize and it was just perfect good for you thank you so much to miss and thank our friend who who asked the question. that would that would be mr paulo out there matthew paulo.

and lastly and worry i'm sas no and williams vicky where were your hometown and distil go back there and visit i think your dad played a big part in your chops right my dad was it didn't grow beautiful music. yet something called the baton rouge community chorus so i grew up in baton rouge louisiana. still the wind my back really. being a southern woman being raised by incredible 7 women informed a lot of miss lady may and how she does things and how she so sets of table and all that you know that would be a lot of the women in my family you know which to. robert e. lee high school i'm a southern girl and yes so that's where from and i love my louisiana i love my

state you know still to this day you know louisiana new orleans is a cultural mecca for for music could this brought so much to american culture and just kind of change the face of what we think about music how we hear how we listen how we dance. i thought accidentally had you know you're going to get but easy it is you go down there and it's such a like the city in microcosm the whole states like a well leaven the walk i really dig it there's been a lot a life lived there and for a place that's so you would. work best knelt by during that whole use the vibration of man behind you do it baby oh you aren't great don't go. there get good to talk to you kiddo lynne whitfield and you can go over and see her on greenlee they're in their last season 5th season on oprah's network o.-w. n. and it's been a guest talking to elin nice to meet you so nice talking to you take care use out.

lynn whitfield to spend on a lot of. my pleasure. the book. i 1st heard about we you know. from the helicopter trip in iraq. i think a downer people are going to continue with military we have never forgiven or. forgotten frater the truth of the book and it will be good at least you saw it was really starting to happen. in the pen journalese says you've heard. seen a lot of crimes to have no one on. the idea of developing an

anonymous digital trombones and applying it to a media consultant so that was a friends. i didn't destroy and just write it in with me for a short while. in the room one of the world's most. unusual remains very serious and it's going to sell for founder to the song given sunday morning. there was a great deal of jealousy the right spring for the song the fit why won't it be more like they have to sleep all. sleep. since my. records. for the. weekend julie are outside in solitary confinement in the prison for terrorists await you know how it's a live person. i don't see him dying. and. that's what he's saying.

i know no crowd. no shots. actually felt. really strong no let's. switch your thirst for action. live from the world headquarters of the r t america in our nation's capital this is the news with rick sanchez hi everybody i'm rick sanchez and i want to welcome all.