Golden Brooks: Simply Golden

Girlfriends' Golden Brooks isn't one to mince words or bite her tongue. She gets real with Men's Edge about Hollywood actors she doesn't respect, and why sometimes it's better to be stupid. Oh, and there are pictures, too.

Not that the 29-year-old actress and Berkeley graduate is any brand of rude in her disdain or distastes for those neither as sharp, smart or savvy as she. But she's honestly blunt. And funny. Much like a cross between the character she lustily played in Linc's - one of television's best-written and most-ignored series - and the one she's tackled in Girlfriends since 2000. That'd be Maya - the spiritually tuned, always-besieged, intelligent-yet-worrying woman who, along with her diverse, driven pals, have helped make Girlfriends one of the chattiest, sexiest shows since … well, since Linc's.

But Brooks is emboldened by more than just brains. She's wise in the ways of fairness where all things African American are concerned. Rather than see her shows compared to Caucasian television programs, she insists - and rightfully so, because they're as unique as they are humorous - that they be looked at on their own merit.

Consider her Bachelor's degree in sociology, Master's degree from Sarah Lawrence College, serious time spent in dance and theater (most importantly with Danny Glover and the Robey Theater Co., a nonprofit black company) - and treat her as her own woman.

How can you not? Look at the fact that she's free with her mind and spirit, willing to portray her body as an extension of self and not exploitatively - and you'll recognize the elegance you may damn well have missed in TV shows like Eve, Moesha and Star Trek: Enterprise, and movies like Timecode, Beauty Shop and this year's fiercely incisive Something New.

So I understand you've been on auditions the last few weeks. What are you looking at? What are you finding?
GOLDEN BROOKS: It's still an uphill battle for women in Hollywood; you know, trying to find those right roles. But it's changing slowly. I want to do non-stereotypical roles from who I am.

Well, let's define who you are.
GB: I'm this very erotic bohemian girl from Berkeley - overly educated, in school too long, church-raised, a little urban, really sensitive (laughs). I'm at this earthy academic impasse as a person. I'd like to play characters outside of that - mentally, physically and spiritually.

So you want to play stupid, soulless, sexless women?
GB: (laughs) No. I want to be women who are conflicted, who delve into a metaphysical world that's opposite from myself - but be accessible. Like Halle Berry, who played a crackhead in Jungle Fever. Look at my role in Girlfriends. Maya's urban and sassy - which is a piece of me. But not all of me. She's streetwise and not book smart - much more reactionary than I. I want to play flawed, but redeeming.

Are you getting directors who want you for strictly black roles, or are they willing to see you without pinpointing the character's race?
GB: The really good, evolved and insightful directors don't even look at color.

Well, that's those two guys.
GB: (laughs) Yeah. The cookie cutter-ones who keep things monotonous just stick to the book - must be blonde, you know. Television seems to have more freedom with that, while film is more specific. There aren't many black lawyers and doctors in films like there is in, say, Grey's Anatomy or ER. There are more blacks and women in power positions in TV than film - unless the film is a black-cast one. But women are usually more peripheral anyway in film.

You starred in the all-black-professional-cast-save-one thing with Something New a few months back, where white guy Simon Baker dated your friend and everyone on her side seemed sorta upset. I've been in his position and heard nothing of the sort - not to my face. Is mixed-race relationships an issue among African Americans, do you think?
GB:(laughs) Are you white? You dated a black woman?

I'm not sure which statement you're giggling about, but yeah, on both counts.
GOLDEN BROOKS: I just think that's so beautiful. People don't talk about that. But here we are. I think the film was frank and funny about it. I dated outside of my race. I think the film just sensationalized maybe the smallest, minute problems for the sake of drama. But I think it was right on. In every way - even down to the woman taking out her extensions and her white boyfriend not knowing how that was done. Down to her feeling discriminated against, and him not understanding exactly how that felt.

I loved that movie and got annoyed that it fell so far under the radar.
GB: Right. Especially in a year of political films and taboo, topic-heavy films: Syriana, Brokeback Mountain. We still have a long way to go before we can look those social demons in the eye. But these films are a start, for what they are. Something New created dialog - you don't see that side of interracial dating. And it made a nice counterpoint to Monster's Ball, where a downtrodden, impoverished woman gets seduced by a racist. A black professional woman dating an open, aware white man - that's refreshing and beautiful. Black women too often have roles beyond the former.

I have this theory that actors get too much credit for smarts. That despite mouthing off politically or historically - or whatever issues they've chosen - they're mostly just dumb. Audiences give actors too much credit for brains.
GB: The good ones I respect and find intriguing - Streep, Sarandon, Clooney, Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Angelina Jolie - are incredibly bright. They utilize their fame to create movement and to enact change. They know what the heck is going on. The actors I don't respect, don't give two shits about, are morons. You're right - there are a lot of dumb actors out there. And no one wants to work with a dumb actor. I'm glad I started in New York and not L.A.

Having a great pair of "ta-tas" doesn't mean you're stupid - Golden Brooks.

You come across more stupid ones, though.
GB: Everyday. And they get work. It's got to be nepotism. So many intelligent, solidly good actors get left to the side - that's 10 percent of what's out there. And the other 90 percent is faceless and baseless - based on superficiality. You know what, I sometimes wish I'd wake up a stupid girl.

No you don't.
GB: Metaphorically, that is, because ignorance is bliss. I am in that 10 percent. I do know how this machine works. I don't play dumb. But I might downplay my looks to be taken seriously. I choose to be specific. But I also think it's important to celebrate your body as a woman. That's why I did Men's Edge. Because it's celebrating beauty and your body, and not exploiting it. It's true. You can wear a bikini and be smart. Having a great pair of "ta-tas" doesn't mean you're stupid.

All those brains and you couldn't come up with a different word than "ta-tas." You're pretty outspoken. Are men encouraged or discouraged by your brains?
GOLDEN BROOKS: If you're smarter than a man, you castrate him. If you make more money than him, you castrate him. Don't play dumb. But you do have to dance. It's actually like fine-tuning a violin. I think it encourages a man. It makes him feel like he has to work, to hunt. Men like that, right?

What if a man is smarter than you?
GB: If they're scholarly, sometimes I feel that I have to catch up to them. But you can't play that. I think all men want Hillary Clinton at the dinner table and Pam Anderson in bed.

Wow. Both of those images scare me.
GB: Ah (laughs). I think a man wants to be needed, especially if you're very successful. A good man should be able to deal with all of you. That hasn't been my experience yet. There've been pieces of me I've had to compromise. And I'm tired of that.

What sort of guy do you like? And don't say the ones who make you laugh, 'cuz I'll introduce you to a whole group of goofs.
GB: It's true though. I love happy men, complex men who can be light - who didn't take themselves too serious, except for sometimes. I want a man to bring out my funny girl. Who doesn't like to laugh?

Why did America miss the boat when it came to Linc's - the barroom series where you played the lovably oversexed CeCe Jennings?
GB: Well, cable wasn't cable in 1998. And I don't think people bought that the bar was owned by a right-wing Republican, African-American male. People expect all blacks to be Democrats. My character was the only one people related to - the hard-working girl, single mother, living check to check. It caught people off guard. Middle America wasn't ready for those ramifications. It scared people.

How not a fan were you of hearing it called an African-Amercian Cheers?
GB: I hated it. Why do people have to compare something to something else white? Like Girlfriends being called a black Sex in the City because - why - we're four professional women talking about our woes of finding a man and maintaining our careers? We can stand on our own without the comparisons. No one compares The West Wing to a black anything … I'm very passionate about this and protective of my people.

You worked with two very different hip-hop queens in control of their circumstance: Eve and Queen Latifah. Discuss.
GB: Latifah. I never knew someone who was so much a beautiful leader and a team player. She leads by example. She can change the energy of a room immediately with her energy and humor. She did every time I was with her. She's my muse - definitely empowered me. Eve? Getting a chance to have control over your own TV show right out of the box … that's what we need to do in Hollywood. Make your own destiny.

You've been "Maya Wilkes" and doing Girlfriends forever. What's the secret of this show? It's got a zillion nooks, crannies …
GB: Seriously? I hate this expression, but we keep it real.

Oh boy.
GB: (laughs) We keep the information accessible and the characters honest. All are flawed and humbled. They make mistakes that don't get cleared up in 24 minutes. It's taken Maya six years to get to the place she's in with her husband. And she's the most self-righteous. And you've seen her crumble because of it. They go in and out of darkness. We don't compromise the journey to make it more commercial. Not all black women are gold diggers or God-fearing. Not all are studious or slutty. That's my thesis (laughs).

Are you a serial dater or in one committed situation?
GOLDEN BROOKS: I am now. I was with one guy for five years. Got out of that. You can't change people. Can't fix the unfixable. He was too much drama. I don't want drama. And you can print that. So I am dating more than I normally do. And it feels nice to know exactly what you want - and don't want.