In ABC's Black-ish, Anthony Anderson leads the rare network comedy that dares to drive the national conversation, devoting full episodes to topics like Black Lives Matter while delivering feel-good laughs. The show, written and created by Kenya Barris, and for which Anderson serves as an executive producer, was partly inspired by Anderson's own life: His son came home from school one day and told his dad he didn't feel black. Then he asked if he could have a bar mitzvah. (Anderson, 46, has two children with his college sweetheart, Alvina, but they divorced in 2015.)
Anderson's own childhood was different. He grew up in Compton, California, in the '70s and '80s; his father owned women's clothing stores, and his mother was a telephone operator. Anthony went to Howard University but dropped out after he lost his scholarship. What he found back home was serious tough love. His father installed a pay phone in the living room and locked the refrigerator. The message was clear: Find your path. And that Anderson did, as a go-to character actor who turned up in everything from Scorsese's The Departed to FX's The Shield to two seasons of Law & Order. Then came Black-ish—and back-to-back actor Emmy nominations for Anderson. Third time's a charm? That seems right-ish.
Mickey Rapkin: What did you learn about women by working at your dad's clothing store?
Anthony Anderson: It was a clothing store for plus-size women. I learned never to say, 'That's too tight.' If she puts it on and feels good about herself, then it's for her.
Why haven't we seen a black man fronting ABC's 'The Bachelor'?
I've never really thought about that. How many bachelorettes do you think he could get on network television? The better question is, 'How many people do you think would watch The Bachelor with a black bachelor?'
Presumably that's the network's fear...
I would be interested in hearing the answer from the network brass. I don't want to speculate. My interest is: What is the reason you haven't? How do you think your ratings would fall off by having a black bachelor?
A friend once told me the first time he had sex after his divorce, it was incredible.
I'd rather not get into that. My ex-wife might be reading this and be like, 'What, motherf—? Oh, really? That's how it was?' We're in a good place now.
I'm glad to hear that.
But I will admit the best sex I've ever had has been with my wife.
You grew up in Compton. What was that like?
[The movie] Straight Outta Compton is a true depiction of my childhood. We are all the same age—Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E. We grew up in the same era down the street from one another. Their music was the soundtrack to my life. Watching Straight Outta Compton was a stroll down memory lane.
You're dating again now. How do you keep things fresh?
Flip the script. Hop in the car and point it in a direction that it's never been in before and just drive. 'What are we going to do?' I don't know, let's go jump in the ocean. 'I don't have a bathing suit.' Well, nobody's around. Let's skinny-dip. Who cares?
You lost a lot of weight recently. Do you feel different skinny-dipping now?
Weight was never an issue with me. I always thought I was the finest thing around. I've always been comfortable in the skin that I'm in. I look back at old pictures now, and I'm like, Oh, shit. I was in denial. I look at old pictures and I realize I didn't have a neck. But I feel the same way.
You told a story recently about how your mom almost got you kicked out of an HBO party because she loudly said 'Veep' wasn't funny. Does she mind your talking about her?
No matter how outrageous the stories may sound, they're not embellished at all. She doesn't mind because it's the truth. She may play coy in the beginning, like, 'Why you say that, baby?' But she's not embarrassed by it. It's what connects us.
Where was she when your dad installed that pay phone?
That's a great question. How could my mama allow that to happen? It was just like, 'Your daddy has a point. You're a grown-ass man. You need to get out of this house, and I'm going to support my husband. I love you, son, but I taught you to be independent. Go out and get a job.'
What's the best advice your mom ever gave you?
It doesn't matter what people feel about you because everyone is going to have an opinion. We were a spiritual family. My mother always told me, 'People hated Jesus Christ, so why should you worry about them?' Once she put it in that perspective, I was like, 'You're right, Ma.' If we believe the good we read about ourselves, we have to believe the bad we read about ourselves.
What did you learn by watching your parents' marriage?
Unconditional love. There are going to be ups and downs in any relationship. It's a team. Sometimes, as a team, you win together. Sometimes as a team you lose together. My parents always worked through their arguments and never went to bed angry. They may not have agreed with one another, but they didn't let that disagreement stop them from laying with one another in peace at night.
You've got a daughter in college now. How did you teach her about boys?
I don't hover. She's 20 years old. She's smart enough to make her own decisions. [When she was] growing up in high school and whatnot, we sat down and we talked to her about things to look out for and what it is that young boys are interested in at this age. I was a young boy, and I can only speak from experience. I just told her to be careful about the situations that she puts herself in and to always present herself as the queen that she is.
This article originally appeared in the January 2017 issue of ELLE.
