We’re sure you heard the story about how Paula Patton wouldn’t take her high school sweetheart hubby Robin Thicke with her to prom because he’s white. Though it may sound like an odd tale given how long the couple has been together and how in love they appear to be, the notion of being hesitant to showcase your interracial love is not an uncommon one. That’s why when we caught up with Miss Patton at the press junket for “Baggage Claim” we had to ask the star of the upcoming romantic comedy what advice she has for black women who might be struggling with being open with their interracial relationship like she once was. Speaking on her own experience, here’s what we got from Paula Patton on black women dating interracially:
“In high school, I was the vice president of the Black Student Union, that was not a good relationship for me,” she said speaking of her decision not to go to prom with Robin. “That’s when you care what other people think. At the end of the day, you have to go with your heart and that’s something that was also true in the movie [“Baggage Claim”].
“It’s not a good thing to care what other people think. At the end of the day, you need to be happy, no one else is living in your house with you.”
And the church says Amen.
Switching the topic to the 37-year-old’s career, we also asked Paula about her film trajectory and whether she’s worried at all about being typecast. And then we just got downright nosy and asked the starlet who has been her favorite co-star out of all the fine men she’s worked with over the past few years. Here’s what she said:
On Worrying about being typecast and having a genre preference
“I’m not worried about being typecast — not yet — because I don’t think people really know who I am. I’m a little schizophrenic; I don’t know who I am.”
“I love them all, to be honest with you,” she said speaking of movie genres she’s played in. “I love movies. I’ve loved movies since I was a little girl. It’s about the project as a whole. At first I want to make sure it’s a project I want to see, and secondly I look at the role to see is it something that’s going to challenge me and something I can sink my teeth into and that’s how I go forth [with my roles] – not based on genre.”
Her favorite male co-star
“I don’t pick favorites. I cannot answer that question. My husband is my favorite. There may be a random thing here or there that wasn’t perfect, but generally everybody I worked with I loved and they had their own great qualities that are unique to them.
“I will say this much, though, Denzel played such an enormous part in my career. This is my second film having a lead role [with him] and I’ve been impressed with him my whole life. He’s one of the greatest actors of all time, so in many ways, he doesn’t know it, but he’s my mentor and he’s been my mentor. When I worked with him, he didn’t teach me, but I learned by watching. I said if Denzel’s doing it, I’m going to do it, so I’ve taken that with me through every film since, so it was such an honor that he wanted to work with me again, but it was also a refresher course too. So I’ll say he was special as my mentor.”
