‘Triple Threat’ Doesn’t Even Begin To Define Gabrielle Dennis: EXCLUSIVE

When you’re a multi-hyphenate talent, who can do it all, being defined is the least of your concerns. A Black Lady Sketch Show’s Gabrielle Dennis is used to taking on every opportunity that she encounters with guts and gusto. With roles in everything from HBO’s Insecure and Netflix’s Luke Cage to her portrayal of Whitney Houston in The Bobby Brown Story–Dennis is a chameleon when it comes to sinking into her characters and their stories.

Though she spent the last few years on the Fox dramedy Rosewood opposite Morris Chestnut–her starring role in the groundbreaking A Black Lady Sketch Show just propelled her career to a whole other level.

Conceived, produced and written by Robin Thede and produced by Issa Rae-the series is the very first sketch comedy series written, produced, and starring Black women.

For Dennis, who began her career on the sketch stage, but has done a great deal more drama work since–it was like coming home. Just days before, A Black Lady Sketch Show was renewed for Season 2–STYLECASTER sat down to chat with Dennis about her expansive career–why she’s in no rush to define herself, and why her experience on ABLSS has been a dream.

Continue reading at STYLECASTER.

Image: James Anthony.

Gabrielle Dennis On The Explosive 'Bobby Brown Story,' Becoming Whitney And Getting Villainous For 'Luke Cage'

Gabrielle Dennis has an aura of fearlessness about her. The Howard University alum first rose to fame in 2008 when she stepped onto the television scene as Janay, the woman who came between Derwin (Pooch Hall) and Melanie (Tia Mowry-Hardrict) on the long-running dramedy The Game. Since then, Dennis has claimed her spot in the Marvel Universe in Netflix's Luke Cage, starred opposite Morris Chestnut on the medical drama Rosewood and has even appeared on the beloved Issa Rae comedy Insecure. Now, Dennis is taking on the role of a lifetime as the late Whitney Houston in BET’s The Bobby Brown Story. Houston left behind a voice and legacy that was so impactful that it still rings out across the globe, so it wasn't a role that Dennis took lightly. "I wouldn't say there was necessarily a fear," she explained to me ahead of  The Bobby Bown Story premiere. "Going into it, understanding how important this role is, how important the need for me to approach it with a certain level of respect and being very delicate because of who she is, it was definitely a challenge. The hardest thing, I think, was that it was such a rushed project. We shot two films in six weeks. It's just such a whirlwind. Things go so quickly. It was a lot of hard work in the preparation and the studying of her. I knew I wouldn't have a lot of time on set to just be playing around. It was just kind of like, 'Girl, during your time off, it's just ... it's watching videos; it's studying your lines.'"

Though Houston had such an energetic spirit, many aspects of her life, especially her marriage to Brown, were often filled with darkness. It was a weight that Dennis had to shake off when filming wrapped. "When I finally wrapped, it was definitely a relief," the Luke Cage actress said. "It took a while to get Whitney off of me because I care so much about her, and I feel like there's this relationship that I have with her now, even though I've never met her — it's a relationship that I have with her now that's different from the one I had with her before. I went on a journey of trying to understand her, her mental space and the things that she went through, especially during her relationship and her marriage. So there's a lot of that darkness and that heavy weight that I had to sit with during that process, and it was hard and very emotional. At the end of the day, you get so upset. She's not here, and she should be here. It's very heartbreaking."

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.