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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 2011)
arts & entertainment Eric Benét: The ‘Trinity Goodheart’ Interview B orn in Milwaukee on Oct. 15, 1970, two- time Grammy-nomi- nee Eric Benét is an actor, singer and songwriter whose music has been influenced by such R&B greats as Al Green, Sly Stone, Chaka Khan and Marvin Gaye. His first pro- fessional break came back in the late Eighties while he was in a local group called Gerard. Since then, Eric has struck gold on the R&B charts and released albums like True to Myself, A Day in the Life and Love and Life. He has collaborated with a range of highly respected artists, including Something for the People; Earth, Wind, and Fire; and Wynonna Judd. As an actor, he’s enjoyed recurring roles on the TV series “For Your Love,” “Half & Half” and “Kaya.” Here, he talks about starring opposite Erica Gluck in his new film, Trinity Goodheart, a heartwarming family drama about a strained father-daughter relation- ship. The movie premieres on the GMC-TV Network on Saturday, August 20th at 9 PM ET/PT (8 PM CT). kam Williams: Hi Eric, thanks for the time. How’re you doing? Eric Benét: I’m doing very well, thank you. kW: I’ll be mixing in my questions with a lot I got from fans. The first is from Teresa Emerson who says: I love your music, Eric. Great to see you back in films. What interested you about this particular project? EB: Well, my manager had read the script, and liked it a lot. And I finally got around to it after I was ambushed at a gig in Atlanta by the producers and the scriptwriter. They told c ElEBrIty me they felt I was per- I NtErvIEW fect for the part. So, I took the initiative to read it that night and fell in love with it, by Kam because there were so Williams many parallels between the main character’s life and my own. And I also liked how the story was so warm and about faith and how it remind- ed people that love and family are both worth fighting for. kW: Felicia Haney says: This film has some similarities to your having been a sin- gle-dad with a young daughter in real life. Is that one of the reasons why you chose to do the film? EB: I felt that if this was going to be my first male lead in a film, then it would be a great opportunity to latch onto since there were so many anchors in this character that I could sink my teeth into because of all the parallels with my life. kW: Was that you really playing the sax in the movie? EB: I did not actually play. I kind of just pantomimed, hoping that whoever really played the sax would sound good and coin- cide with what I was doing. kW: Irene Smalls says: You play a black, single father raising his child alone. This is definitely not the norm in the Black com- munity where there are so many single- female headed households. She asks: What message do you want to communicate through your role? EB: Irene’s right, it’s not the norm. But it was my reality. I was pretty much a single- father for most of my daughter India’s life. She’s 19 now, just finished her freshman Page 8 The Portland Skanner august 17, 2011 year at USC, and she’s blossomed into an incredibly talented, beautiful, strong young woman. Looking back, were there things I could’ve done better? Yes, but I’m still pret- ty proud of myself for having raised such an amazing individual. Being a parent is not easy, but speaking for myself, it’s a wonder- ful blessing and the most rewarding job I’ve ever had. Read the rest of this story online at www.theskanner.com
