Up next in 10
Bel Air's #JazlynMartin Talks Starring Role On The Hit Show, Her Top 5 Dead Or Alive Rappers & More
28K views
Apr 26, 2024
Bel Air's #JazlynMartin Talks Starring Role On The Hit Show, Her Top 5 Dead Or Alive Rappers & More Bel Air's Jazlyn Martin reprises the role originally played by legendary model / actress Tyra Banks on "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air." Check out our conversation with her. Interview: Algernon Billups - @algernonsoctober #JazlynMartin #belair #allhiphoptv
View Video Transcript
0:00
First and foremost, thank you very much for hanging out with us on allhiphop.com
0:06
How are you doing today? I'm doing good. How are you doing? I'm doing all right
0:10
I'm doing all right. Let's go ahead and jump in. Like I said, I had an opportunity to talk with another one of your castmates, Ali, and
0:17
of course, showrunner Carla Waddles as well on All Hip Hop Before, so it's great to be
0:22
able to kind of speak to a different character on the show, a new perspective
0:27
So since we are a music platform, let's go ahead and start off with something more kind
0:31
of aligned to music and entertainment and stuff like that. So of course, here at All Hip Hop, I've got to ask you, who are your top five MCs, dead
0:40
or alive? Let's go ahead and start us off. Kendrick, J. Cole, Lil Wayne, Tupac, Fifth One Day
0:56
Fifth One, dead or alive? Ooh, I don't know what that fifth one is
1:02
I'll let you choose. I can't choose. I can't choose. You've got to give me that last one
1:07
You've got to give me that last one. That last one. Yes, Drake too. Okay
1:11
I'll say Drake. He's just so universal. I'll say Drake. Okay. All right
1:16
We got your top five MCs, dead or alive. Okay. Now, if someone is just tapping into season two of Bel-Air, and it's not really familiar
1:24
with the show or your character, can you kind of describe your character, Jackie, and
1:28
what they can expect from her as this season progresses? Yeah. Jackie is, she's from South Central
1:36
She's Afro-Latina. She grew up in South Central, so she's very street smart
1:42
She's very headstrong, you know, doc. Her uncle has kind of only been her prime caretaker, so she didn't really grow up knowing
1:52
you know, what that parent dynamic is like, but she's very independent
1:59
She's strong. She's good in school. She's smart. She's a dancer, and she has a lot of goals that she wants to achieve. Nice
2:08
Very nice. Now, what made Jackie a character that you felt you could relate to, that you felt like
2:13
you know, when you saw this, you're like, you know what? I think I can relate to her. I think I can breathe life into this character and make her relatable
2:20
You know, I mean, I think every character is relatable. I think, you know, I could be any human
2:27
You know, I think it's just building that perspective and having that empathy to go there
2:32
But, you know, I've been 17 in high school once. You know, I've, you know, been a girl who wants love and, you know, so I feel like it
2:42
wasn't too hard. I know we grew up differently. You know, I've had both parents in my life, super, super supportive parents
2:51
So that was very fun to jump into, you know, build that world of not having parents like
2:58
that in my life. So, you know, I am similar to her in some things and not, but I can always relate to her. Okay. Okay
3:09
When I looked at your IG, you call yourself a plant-based shorty
3:13
So if you could tell us a little bit about that, why you kind of choose that lifestyle
3:19
That's funny. You know, I just want to live a life that doesn't contribute to oppression and suffering
3:29
And I think, you know, a lot of people don't see animals as living beings, but I like to
3:34
think life is more important than taste. And yeah, I just, I know what they go through and the process to get them on our plate
3:46
And I just, you know, as easy as it is, I just think life is much more important than taste. Okay
3:52
All right. Fair enough. Fair enough. Someone that cares about something outside of just what tastes delicious, but looking
3:58
at the world overall in terms of causing harm and such. Okay. Understandable
4:05
I spoke with Ali and as I know you two are also close that you talk, he's someone that
4:10
you definitely work very closely with out there. He told me that when he is not making music or I should say acting, he's making music
4:18
So have you two had an opportunity to kind of collab or on any musical sounds? And if so, can we expect some things
4:24
You know, me and Ali actually haven't, he shows me his stuff. I show him my stuff, but we've never like even thought about that
4:32
That's a good question. Yeah. Cause I know, cause when I talked to him, he was all about it
4:36
He was just like, you know, if I'm not, if I'm not acting or preparing for some stuff, I'm in the studio
4:41
And then I knew that you did music as well. So I said, I wonder if those two have kind of gotten together
4:45
No, we haven't actually, I'm not even, that has not even crossed my mind, but that's a
4:50
good point. Okay. All right. Well, hopefully we'll see some stuff, you know, that then may even pop up on the Bel
4:56
Air soundtrack. We'll see. We'll see what happens. We'll see what happens. Okay
5:01
You might've just put something, you might've planted a seed. All right. Come back to all hip hop and we'll talk about it once you kind of bring it out. Okay
5:09
Now you're such a multifaceted artist that, you know, really has the ability to create
5:14
so many different ways in terms of dancing, singing. And of course we know you for acting, which one do you kind of gravitate a little bit
5:22
more towards and what. You know, that is a always, always a hard question
5:33
I really can't choose. I really, I really can't, you know, dance was my first love
5:39
And then it was singing and then it was acting, but they all are just so different and unique
5:46
And I feel like they, I don't know, they supply me with such different things
5:52
It's just, it's, it's hard to choose. I can't, I can't choose one. Okay
5:58
So they all, they all kind of feed you. It's all different ways in which you can express yourself
6:03
They've all came into my life at different periods of time and have, you know, had significant
6:07
effect on me. So I couldn't choose one. Okay. Okay. All right
6:13
Fair enough. For this particular role, tell us about the audition process and kind of how you prepared
6:18
to be on such a successful show with such an amazing cast. Yeah
6:23
It was my first audition with my agent and yeah. And he sent me, he's like, Hey, I got an audition for you
6:29
I'm going to send it to you. And I saw it and I was like, Oh, Bel Air. Okay
6:34
I, I know that show. And I sent in my self tape and about a couple of days later, he called me and he's like
6:42
they'd like to do a chemistry read with you and Jabari. I was like, okay
6:46
So they sent me the time and I went in and it was a few girls
6:50
And then me and Jabari did the chemistry read. And then a few days after that, they called and they're like, they want you to be Jackie
6:59
So that was, that was, is very short time span. And I heard by, you know, just imagining and putting myself in Jackie's shoes of, you know
7:12
growing up in South Central as an Afro Latina and with my uncle being around, that's really
7:17
how I prepared, just really trying to be authentic and honest about her life and, you know, her truth. Excellent. Excellent
7:28
So what's some of the things when you're not, you know, either singing, dancing or whatever
7:33
you know, you have to do, I know you've got a very busy schedule. How do you unwind
7:37
How do you relax? How do you lean back when, when, when the cameras are off, the lights are down, you're
7:41
by yourself or with your crew, whatever the case may be, how do you relax
7:45
You know, that's a good question. I love to read on my, my spare time
7:53
I don't know something so soothing about it. I love reading and I love watching shows
7:57
Like I can binge a show all day or watch movies. And I feel like that's just like, it's kind of hard for me to be like, Jaz, you're allowed
8:04
to do this. You're allowed to have your off day and like, let's, let's chill
8:08
But when I do it, I'm like, this is right. Get some popcorn and just watch it
8:14
Watch a good show. Nice, nice, nice. All right. So with, you know, in terms of other creatives that are looking to kind of get into the space
8:24
that you're looking at, you're into already, what's some advice you can give to people
8:28
that are trying to get their footing or just some things that they should keep in mind as they're pursuing their dreams in this particular area
8:36
I would say play, you know, I think we get caught up in the politics of Hollywood and
8:45
you know, what we think they want to see and what we think we should be and how we should
8:52
look and how we should play. And I think we lose the basis of why we do what we do, which is to play
8:59
I think that is the root of why we do what we do. And once we lose that, I feel like we lose our authenticity and we just become like a
9:07
robot and just copy other people. So I feel like to stay true to that and, you know, fail, mess up
9:14
Don't be scared to do that because, you know, there's magic in failures. Absolutely. Absolutely
9:21
Absolutely. And I know, obviously, you came in on the second season, doing a great job in terms
9:26
of that. What's been kind of the most challenging, you know, scene or challenging aspect of kind
9:32
of being on this part of this great show with these great people
9:36
What's been kind of the biggest challenge or challenges that you've had to face? Yeah
9:42
I'd probably say not letting myself get to myself. You know, I like to get in my head and I think trying to persevere through that and not let
9:55
it cripple me. Just you know, I am here for a reason
10:00
They did pick me. I am enough. I do bring something special to the show
10:03
So show it, you know, they love you. So love you, too
10:09
I think that's been a challenging aspect of, you know, feeling I have to prove why I'm
10:15
there, but like already knowing it myself. Gotcha. Gotcha. Well, we are definitely enjoying everything that you're bringing to the table in terms
10:27
of this new character, being that new love interest, being that new energy kind of bringing
10:31
it here. And as I've looked at the latest season here, I just caught up on the latest episode
10:37
Things are getting a little spicy in terms of your character as well
10:41
We see that there's there's some layers being kind of pulled back and we're getting some
10:46
backstory on some things. So I did. I was so excited for this episode because they're going to like, oh, you finally get
10:52
to see some of. You know, you just see a very surface Jackie
10:57
And then this episode, you're like, oh, she's human, too. Like she has stuff and demons that she's facing, too
11:05
So I was very excited about this episode. Yeah, I said, OK, it looks like because I was kind of wondering what they were going
11:11
to do, if we're going to know more. But then when I saw it last night, I was just like, OK, it looks like we're learning a lot more
11:17
Well, it's going to be great. Well, listen, we wish you nothing but continued success here at all hip hop with this show
11:22
and many others. But before we let you go, please tell everyone about the different projects you've been a
11:27
part of so they can binge on those shows as well as continuing to watch you on Belair
11:33
I you know, this is my first consistent show, but I've made some guest experiences on This
11:39
Is Us, All-American Homecoming, the movie The High Note with Tracee Ellis Ross
11:45
And yeah. OK. All right. Fantastic. Would you guys make sure you check her out and Belair playing Jackie doing a thing
11:53
Jazlyn is extremely talented. She's a dancer. She's a singer. She does a variety of different things and super proud of you and what you bring into
12:00
the table. I'm enjoying what you're bringing to the table in terms of the show
12:04
I'm looking forward to learning more and seeing more about you. And we definitely appreciate you hanging out with us
12:09
Thank you so much. I appreciate you. Take care.
#Arts & Entertainment
#Celebrities & Entertainment News
#TV Shows & Programs
#Urban & Hip-Hop