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[0:01] Robert Bannon: Are you ready? It's The Roundtable with me, Robert Bannon.

[0:09] Robert Bannon: Welcome to The Roundtable, everybody. My name is Robert Bannon. You're listening to us on Broadway World over here on the Broadway Podcast Network, iHeart, Spotify, wherever artists are here talking about art.

[0:18] Robert Bannon: There's a brand new movie that's out and about right now that you need to see. It's called Bull Street. I don't know why Malynda seems to always be working with Loretta Devine because they've done other work together. I really love her.

[0:31] Robert Bannon: And I love Malynda because I've read a lot about Malynda. Amy Madigan's in this film. This film is incredible. If you like law movies, if you like the underdog, if you like stories about coming home and fighting the fight, we need stories like that more than ever.

[0:43] Robert Bannon: I love an Ivy League lawyer challenging a small town attorney in a courtroom. Privilege versus legacy and more. Bull Street is out and about after killing it over in the film festival scene and now it's here on Amazon where you can see it at home while the world's on fire and the smoke is everywhere. You can stay home and watch it. Malynda Hale, welcome to the show.

[1:04] Malynda Hale: I think that was my favorite intro ever.

[1:06] Robert Bannon: You are, see, I have questions for you.

[1:12] Malynda Hale: Okay, I got answers.

[1:14] Robert Bannon: You are, you have children.

[1:17] Malynda Hale: Yes, I do. A two year old and a six year old and a husband, yes.

[1:21] Robert Bannon: The rumor on the street in the deep dive is that your husband is a lawyer.

[1:26] Malynda Hale: He is, he is.

[1:28] Robert Bannon: And I think he's like a fancy lawyer.

[1:30] Malynda Hale: He is a fancy lawyer.

[1:33] Robert Bannon: Not a rumor, it's facts. She has a fancy husband lawyer.

[1:39] Robert Bannon: So you get to play a lawyer.

[1:42] Malynda Hale: Yeah, yeah.

[1:43] Robert Bannon: Did you talk to him about this?

[1:45] Malynda Hale: I absolutely did.

[1:46] Robert Bannon: But are you the fancy lawyer?

[1:49] Malynda Hale: No, I'm the small town lawyer.

[1:51] Robert Bannon: See, she is against her husband.

[1:57] Malynda Hale: Don't tell him though, don't tell him.

[1:59] Robert Bannon: Okay, okay. Did you have a unique perspective to playing a lawyer because you live with one?

[2:04] Malynda Hale: Yeah, I mean, it's interesting because he's not a litigator, but he still understands the lingo and all the stuff. So any questions that I had like what would make sense, what would actually happen, how realistic is this? He was so helpful in just also how I presented when we did the courtroom scene. So it was great and he loves that stuff. He gets really excited. So it was really helpful.

[2:24] Malynda Hale: I've always joked like you should be like one of those lawyer consultants on TV shows because he was really great. I mean, he's my biggest supporter and biggest champion anyway, but he was really, really great with helping out with that.

[2:34] Robert Bannon: Absolutely. I love that so much. Shout out to all. You know, I'm an artsy fartsy guy and my husband is a banker and he doesn't live in showbiz, but he's like woo woo woo.

[2:44] Malynda Hale: Yes, I'm a banker, but I love you.

[2:46] Robert Bannon: It's a good balance. The creative and the what are we calling this?

[2:49] Malynda Hale: The corporate.

[2:51] Robert Bannon: The corporate world.

[2:52] Malynda Hale: Yeah.

[2:53] Robert Bannon: Do you get to go to Disney World?

[2:55] Malynda Hale: All the time.

[2:56] Robert Bannon: Yeah.

[2:57] Malynda Hale: We go to Disneyland all the time. So, yeah.

[2:59] Robert Bannon: Disney has some good perks. I'm not going to lie.

[3:01] Malynda Hale: That's so good.

[3:04] Robert Bannon: I know. So my kids are growing up thinking that that's normal. It's a Saturday. We're bored. We're going to go to Disney.

[3:10] Malynda Hale: What the heck?

[3:12] Robert Bannon: Okay. That sounds amazing. Your career is fun to talk about as well because you do so many incredibly fun things.

[3:21] Malynda Hale: I mean, you're an actress. You're a filmmaker. You sing. You have a podcast. You've done so many things.

[3:27] Robert Bannon: But what I noticed through LINE, in my little opinion, is that you, see, her team is coming in now. I'm so happy I snuck that question about her family in before her team gets and watches.

[3:39] Malynda Hale: No, I'm kidding. What's so amazing is that your career through LINE is you really talk about marginalized group, people, people of color, women, the LGBT community, but you tie it to your own personal beliefs, religion, and spirituality as well.

[3:53] Malynda Hale: Yeah.

[3:54] Robert Bannon: Is that intentional?

[3:55] Malynda Hale: It is very intentional, specifically because my faith informs everything that I do. But I also want people to, because, I mean, being a Christian, it has a bad title these days, right? And so I want to be the Christian that people look to and they're like, oh, she's actually following the teachings of Jesus by advocating for everybody, by showing up for everybody, by loving everybody, but not judging anybody. And I think that being, you know, the activist heart in me and the things that I do, when I am able to put that into the art, I think people can see exactly what I stand for and what I believe. So it is very, very intentional. And it's how I've always wanted to show up because I don't think that a lot of marginalized groups get the benefit of having positive narratives shared about them from a Christian perspective. And so that's something that I'm really, really intentional about.

[4:40] Robert Bannon: Well, I really appreciate it. Yes. With a same-sex husband and a Christian growing up, I was Catholic, he's Christian, his family are pastors. You know, you bring a lot of shame and guilt. And I had a gospel singer on the other day, Lisa Page Brooks said, there's a lot of church shame in people and communities. So to heal that brings us all closer to something bigger than us. And I think heals a lot of trauma and wounds that we all have. So thank you for what you do.

[5:04] Malynda Hale: Yeah, of course. How does that inform the decisions you make? Like when a film like this comes along, what makes you say like, this is a story I want to tell?

[5:12] Malynda Hale: Well, when I read the script, I was really drawn by a couple of things. One, I was drawn by the relationship between my character and her grandmother who raised her in the film, which is played by Loretta Devine. And it reminded me just so much of the relationship that I already have with my mom. We're very close. She lives four minutes down the street, her and my dad do. She takes care of my kids when I'm working. So I was really just drawn to that relationship. And it was something that I would want to see on screen. But what I also found that was really important was the relevance of talking about how specifically a lot of Black families in the South, they are getting things taken away from them because they don't have the proper paperwork.

They don't have, you know, people advocating for them. I'm like, this is the story that needs to be told because unfortunately, it's very, very relevant today. And so, you know, Lynn Dow, who's the writer and director of the film, a lot of it came from her own family background, which made it even more personal and more beautiful to be a part of. And so, yeah, as soon as I read it, I knew I wanted to do it. And I'm really glad that I got the opportunity.

[6:12] Robert Bannon: It's so exciting. I want people to, you can go to BullstreetMovie.com if you want more information. Lynn Dow wrote and directed this. You're a writer as well. What's it like when you get to, do you put the writer hat on and then take it off? Like, this is not, you didn't write this project. You're starring in it. So what's it like for a writer to be able to read and act other people's words?

[6:32] Malynda Hale: Well, I mean, it's, I love it, honestly, because I get to bring to life what they envisioned. And it's not my story to tell in that sense. And my job is to bring it to life. But it was very collaborative, I will say. I had made some suggestions like, oh, what if we do this? Or what if this works? And Lynn was so great about that. And so that's what I really liked actually just about the entire community on the film was that everybody was very collaborative. Everybody just wanted to make the best film possible. So we all were kind of bringing ideas to the table. But yeah, I think when you're doing somebody else's work, it's actually a little bit more fun because you can play around a little bit and just have a good time. I think when you're in charge of the project, you're a little bit more rigid because you want it to be exactly the way you see in your head. And so that's the hardest part. But yeah, I really enjoy that. I really enjoy it.

[7:18] Robert Bannon: Yeah. I love the idea of the film, because I think that a lot of places like you were just talking about, people who may not know better or come from certain areas or communities get taken advantage of by corporations, government rules, and they don't know their rights and their laws. We're going through it about voting. We're going through it about what are our fundamental rights as people living in this country. So a film like this about a home that belongs to somebody and the battle to, is it yours? Is it not? Can you take it? It's very timely for a lot of people. There's a lot of people who are going through struggles in their own ways, very similar to this. How did you find your way into this family and this character and to be able to portray them in an authentic way?

[7:56] Malynda Hale: Honestly, it was a lot of conversation with Lynn, because as I said, it was about her family. I just wanted to do it justice. Also, I thought about my own parents. They're both from the South. My dad's from Mississippi. My mom's from Louisiana. My dad has so many stories about land ownership and legacy and all of the things. He even grew up on a plantation. He was born in 1944. Knowing what land his family was able to get and then not have. This is a part of Black history today. It was a historical experience as well as a personal one and one that I think a lot of people are going to relate to. I think a lot of people are going to relate to this story. I think the hardest thing in terms of putting myself in that place and finding that character was honestly having to keep a Southern accent the whole time, because I'm from Los Angeles.

I'm in California. I very much have a West Coast voice. I was like, ooh, this is going to be hard. I found it. There were a lot of locals that took part in the film while we were there. We shot in South Carolina in the summer for two months, so it was really, really, really aggressively hot. It was so great. If you had questions about dialect, if I had questions about how to present something, everyone was just so wonderful. That's probably the hardest thing I would say.

[10:12] Robert Bannon: I love that. Prime Video. It's perfect this weekend. Go watch it this weekend. It's perfect. It's out on Prime Video right now. Amy Madigan. I joked about you and Loretta Devine because you have worked with her before and did short work with her. You reunite with her on set. Speaking of Amy Madigan's incredible actress, Loretta Devine is a national treasure.

[10:32] Malynda Hale: Yes, that is the correct way to describe her. The most cutest, sweetest, talented person ever. Truly, truly. I hope that you and her were singing Dreamgirls together.

[10:39] Malynda Hale: In my head, you were in the makeup trailer singing Dreamgirls and kicking it up.

[10:09] Malynda Hale: What's up, everyone? It's Malynda Hale, and welcome to another episode of The Broadway Podcast.

[10:16] Malynda Hale: I'm your host, Malynda Hale, and today, we're going to be talking about what she brings to life as an in-character, and even off-screen, just talking to her and the wisdom that she imparts on people, because she really is about bringing up the next generation of artists and you hooked me about this movie, okay? You hooked me. My husband's going to come home. He's a banker. He deals in real estate all the time. He's going to be all about the nerdy part of this movie. I'm going to be rooting for the underdog in this movie, and we're going to watch it this weekend when we can't go outside in Detroit, because the world is on fire out here.

[10:50] Malynda Hale: Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Are you guys getting the fires from Canada?

[10:53] Malynda Hale: We are. We are.

[10:54] Malynda Hale: Oh, my gosh. My brother texted me from New Jersey, and he said, our air quality is 156. It's not good. I said, we're 422. You can't even be outside. So, Detroit, stay home and watch this movie. Put it on Prime Video.

[11:06] Malynda Hale: 422?

[11:08] Malynda Hale: It's like you walk outside into an ashtray.

[11:10] Malynda Hale: Wow. But we're here.

[11:12] Malynda Hale: Yes, this is the perfect thing to stay home and watch. It's the weekend. We can't go outside. Stay home.

[11:15] Malynda Hale: Wow. Melinda, you sing.

[11:18] Malynda Hale: I do.

[11:19] Malynda Hale: Like, your music is out. Like, you could sing. Were you a singer first? Did you want to sing first?

[11:24] Malynda Hale: Singing was always first for me, ever since I was five years old when I saw Whitney Houston sing the national anthem for the Super Bowl, and I was like, I want to do that. And so, yeah, I grew up singing in church. I did musical theater. My degree is in classical voice, and my minor is in musical theater. So, music was always the thing. But just as I got older, and the more I got into the music industry, I was like, I want nothing to do with the music.

[11:46] Malynda Hale: I get it. You know? And so, now, I still record music. I still perform on occasion, but it's really under my own terms, and it's for me. I also have had songs licensed on TV shows and things like that. But it's really, I love kind of being able to control when I allow music to be the main thing, and when I want to switch to acting, or switch to directing, or switch to writing. That's what I love being a multi-hyphenate, because there's different parts of my life that each element serves. And so, music is always my first love. It was my number one love. But there's so many other things that kind of go under the umbrella of Melinda, as I say.

[12:23] Malynda Hale: Yeah. I love that so much. What I love, because she sings. Her music is out. She sings. It's sung around the country, open and sung with most incredible performers around the world. She has a podcast. She had a podcast that was big. It's big. And it's important that this work and the writing that you've done for other things, like the Daily Beast. It's important that we talk about a series about social issues, and how it ties with what we were talking about, faith and culture. And then also, you're an on-camera host. You've done a lot of stuff, and they've hired you to be the person that gets to do post-show talks and conversations.

[12:55] Malynda Hale: Yeah, yeah. It's important that you really can do it all within this business. You don't have to be one thing. And a lot of times, do you feel like they try to pressure you to be in a box?

[13:04] Malynda Hale: Always, always. And I'm like, I got told once before that I had multi-goal syndrome. And I was like, well, diagnose me, because I do. I have a lot of goals, and I'm going to achieve all of them. But yeah, I remember this. When I first moved to New York, before I got my equity card, I met with an acting coach, and they were like, well, okay, what do you want to focus on? I was like, oh, well, I really like all of these things. They're like, you have multi-goal syndrome. And I was like, that's a thing? I was like, okay, I guess that's what I have. But here I am. I have multi-goal syndrome, so I think the best people should have multi-goal. We can do a lot of things.

[13:37] Malynda Hale: I agree. I agree. I agree.

[13:40] Malynda Hale: I like that. Are you ready for my next scandalous question?

[13:44] Malynda Hale: Oh my gosh, I can't wait.

[13:46] Malynda Hale: Because we went over the husband, and we went over the law, and the mouse.

[13:50] Malynda Hale: Yes. You, you've probably been asked this before. You did an episode of a show that I was secretly really obsessed with.

[13:58] Malynda Hale: Oh, I already know which show you're going to say.

[14:01] Malynda Hale: Okay. But you were a nurse.

[14:03] Malynda Hale: I was?

[14:05] Malynda Hale: If you were a patient, I would be really excited. The show is called Sex Sent Me to the ER. If you've never seen it, it is the greatest. If you have a date, okay, and you're at the point in your relationship where you're a date, and you watch, or husband, and you watch. This is a show of scandal.

[14:24] Malynda Hale: It is. It was so funny. It was such a fun experience. I didn't even know what it was when I auditioned for it. I was like, this is weird. Like, I don't remember. I think my agent sent me the call, and I was like, okay, I'll audition. And it was just a nurse. So, like, the things weren't weird. I was just reading the signs, and then when I got it, and I read, I was like, what is this show?

[14:44] Malynda Hale: The best. The best guilty pleasure TV show. Truly.

[14:48] Malynda Hale: See, Melinda, I like shows. Like, I love Love After. See, don't judge me.

[14:53] Malynda Hale: Okay. I love Love After Lockdown.

[14:55] Malynda Hale: Oh, okay. You're like- I love a scandal. I like the scandal. It's entertaining. The world is crazy. I like to- Do you watch Love Island?

[15:05] Malynda Hale: But see, I don't watch Love Island. Do you?

[15:07] Malynda Hale: I don't either. I don't either. No. I've watched Love is Blind. I loved Married at First Sight for, like, the first 12 seasons, and then it got a little crazy. Um, yeah, there's- I've watched The Circle for a long time, too.

[15:20] Malynda Hale: Oh, you are- you and my husband would be best friends, because you just- He got me onto The Circle. He named his slate. That's his shows. You just talked- we watched Love is Blind. We liked The Circle. He loves The Circle. And then when we were long- he was living in Detroit, and I'm from New York. So, while we were doing the long distance thing, we would watch Married at First Sight together, and then we would have conversations about relationships and communication. And that was the way that we- and we've had all of Dr. Pepper and Pastor Cal all on this show. I love their- the idea of this insane people.

[15:52] Malynda Hale: Yeah. Okay. I can hang with you. I'm a little trashier than you, but I can get down with the-

[15:59] Malynda Hale: So, for people who want to see this movie and are looking for something to do this weekend, who do you think should see this? When you think about it, what do you envision the audience for this film being?

[16:08] Malynda Hale: I mean, honestly, anyone that wants to see an authentic, relatable story that's about family and heritage and legacy, I mean, those are all the things that it covers. And honestly, really strong performances. And I'm not just saying that about myself. The entire cast is incredible. And I think it's very different from a lot of the movies that have recently come out. So, if you just want to change, if you want something that's a little bit more dramatic, that's emotional, that's very heartfelt, I absolutely recommend seeing this. I think it's a very universal story. I think a lot of people will relate to it. And I think everyone will enjoy it. And who doesn't want to see something with Loretta Devine in it?

[16:40] Malynda Hale: I do. You know what I mean? She's incredible on everything.

[16:44] Malynda Hale: I love her so much. She can read a line, honey. Let me see. Let me tell you. We saw her at one red carpet in New York, and she spoke briefly. One day I'm getting her on the show because she is the greatest conversation. She's incredible. Incredible.

[16:58] Malynda Hale: So, check out this film. And then for you, when you're not running an entertainment company, and singing, and doing movies, and doing podcasts, your podcast was called Hashtag We Need to Talk, and writing, and creating the Black Voices Heard. Maybe you do have a goal. It's all under the same umbrella.

[17:19] Malynda Hale: It is. And then the new evangelicals and all of that. What is the mission of Melinda Hale? What are you out here trying to do with all of that as an artist, and as an activist, and also as somebody, spiritual leader? I don't know. What is the end result and goal for what you try to put out into this world?

[17:37] Malynda Hale: The sky is the limit. I don't know what the end result is. But I think at the end of the day, the main thing that I am trying to do, as we talked about before, is show up in a way that lets people know that anything I create, anything that I'm a part of, is about uplifting marginalized voices and stories and narratives. Again, whether it's I'm creating a project, writing a project, or part of a project, I want to make sure that the narratives and stories that are told are ones that don't often get told. And if they do get told, they get told in a very stereotypical way, right? I'm really about humanizing and normalizing everybody's experience so that it doesn't feel marginalized anymore. And I think that that's what's super important.

I mean, the first film that I directed was called Curtain Call, and it was specifically a really beautiful, quiet story for the LGBTQ community. And I had so many messages of people thanking me, because they had never seen a queer relationship portrayed that way on screen, which you should watch. It's on YouTube. It's called Curtain Call. Yeah, we already did the festival run, and we're working on the feature right now. But yeah, I want people to see that I practice what I preach, my faith is super important, and I'm always going to advocate for people. So it doesn't matter what I'm doing. That's always the message that I'm coming forward with love, compassion, and empathy.

[19:46] Malynda Hale: Ooh, I pulled it up. I'm going to be watching the short, then I'll send you my reel, because when the feature comes out, I'm going to be background actor number six. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. And I really want to appreciate you and what you do, because I know from my husband, Sally, to my family, from my community, queer people of color, people of color, women of color, people in general, we don't always feel allowed to be part of the story and the conversation. We don't always allow ourselves to get rid of the shame, the stigma, the discrimination, the fear of telling our stories. And you creating a safe space for that to be is such a beautiful gift to the world. And under the umbrella of God, Christianity, and faith is a real rare air that is going to give a lot of a breath of fresh air to a lot of people who've really longed for it and needed. So thank you for what you do.

[19:46] Malynda Hale: Thank you. Thank you.

[19:48] Malynda Hale: I'm excited, everybody. Go, go, go. There's a movie out this weekend that you need to see. Bullstreetmovie.com is where you can find out information. Go to Prime Video this weekend and check it out. My show is your show. It's such an honor. Thanks for chatting with me.

[20:00] Malynda Hale: Thank you so much. This is wonderful.