By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo Credit: DELUX Magazine
‘Waiting to Exhale’ starring Angela Bassett, Whitney Houston, Loretta Devine, and Lela Rochon reunite for an interview as the movie turns 30.
The movie centers on the friendship of four women as they navigate dating, divorce, careers, and more. It’s one of those films that delivers a theme of female empowerment.
“I can’t believe it’s been 30 years,” Rochon said. “I feel like I’m looking at my daughter in myself. I was 30, 30 years ago, and it’s just like wow.”
The movie was adapted from the book of the same title by Terry McMillan. The novel came out in 1992. Forest Whitaker made his directing debut with this project. Waiting to Exhale was a movie that was different and groundbreaking at the time.
“The book was so hot,” Devine said. “Everybody read Terry McMillan’s book. So when the auditions hit, oh my god, it was like a dream. It would be so exciting to be a part of something like that.”
Rochon chimed in to discuss how she found the project.
“I remember my agent calling me, and I ran up and down my own hallway just screaming,” Rochon said. “I was so excited.”
Devine said that she improvised in one of her scenes. Every woman in the film had a memorable scene. Angela’s scene of burning the clothes in the car is iconic.
“It was cathartic to do the scene to run through that closet ripping everything,” Bassett said. “You’d improvise a little bit here and there. I was the background to your foreground. Running down her hallway with the little red wagon, and I love that. My mother used to say When I was growing up, I’ll fix your little red wagon.”
There was one person in this interview to complete it, and that was Whitney Houston. She passed away in 2012. Angela was visibly emotional watching a classic video from Whitney on the TV screen.
“I think she would be proud,” Rochon said.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
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