I am beyond the girly girly that loves the “Sex in the City, “Girlfriends” and now “Single Ladies” Shows. I love seeing female camaraderie support and love and I even love seeing the drama and troubles that comes along with having close girlfriends. I basically love watching TV that I can relate to . In a sea of reality TV, it is real easy to fall into the high ratings rathet TV niche, enter Love and Hip Hop, but instead of going that route Oxygen Network has decided to put a different play on the Bad Girl and give us GREAT reality TV with the docu-series Girlfriend Confidential LA. Starring Eva Marcille and her close friends Dencye Lawton, Kelly Marie Dunn and Nikki Chu. I was able to catch up with two of the GC girls. Peep our convo!
EricaVain: I just want to say I’m excited to see the show and I think that it’s wonderful how positive and honest you guys are going to be portraying yourselves. Can you tell us a little bit about how you all met as friends, because it seems like the show really did develop organically .
Eva Marcille: You tell the story.
Denyce Lawton: Long story short, Eva did a film many, many, many years ago with my ex-fiancé and I happened to later on be on a show co-starring with her former fiancé. But even before she had started dating Lance, I saw Eva out a lot, you know, every event that my ex Wesley and I went to, Eva was there. And because they had that history of working together, they were cordial and every time I met Eva, she acted like she didn’t know me and I started getting offended. So it was just – I think it was Fashion Week, I had just finished watching her walk, I was such a fan and so she finally comes up again and she kind of – she didn’t snub me but she was kind of was just like all right, nice to meet you again. And I’m like, well what’s going on. So something had snapped and I was like, look chick, this the last time you going to act like you don’t know me. And she was like, I’m sorry, have we met. And so my – so Wesley had to let her know that you see us out all the time, she was like first of all, you look different every time I see you. And she said, let’s keep it real. When I met him, he was single and he was doing his thing and every time I turned around he had a different chic on his arm. So I just thought you were a different chick.
EricaVain: WOW
Eva Marcille: And now we’ve been friends forever, but that is literally how we met…
Denyce Lawton: So…
Eva Marcille: …through exes.
Denyce Lawton: And just – but both of being in those relationships at the same time and, you know, that whole thing about wanting to stay a couple, you hang out with other couples that are in the same healthy place, you don’t want to hang out with single friends or unhealthy couples. So we did a lot of activities and stuff as couples. We had, you know, a great time. And I think we both ended our relationships around the same time, ironically.
Eva Marcille: And we – and her and I have stayed friends.
Erica Vain: So how does – how do Nikki and Kelly come into the duo ?
Eva Marcille: Well, Denyce and I both know all the girls in different ways, but that’s how Denyce and I met. And then I met Nikki through the Tyra Banks’s Show. She did a makeover on my mom back in 2005 when Tyra had her talk show, and so that’s how I met Nikki Chu. And then I met Kelly through a mutual friend of mine at dinner one night and she was like a long, lost sister to this three musketeers bunch. It just complete…
Denyce Lawton: Right.
Eva Marcille: …completed our fabulous foursome. How did you meet Nikki…
Denyce Lawton: I met Nikki at a different time on the Tyra Banks Show as well, that’s so weird. But I was actually there with a friend that was a guest on the show and so I was just sitting in the audience and something weird happened and then that’s how Nikki and I first met. But, over the years, every time I went out with different cliques of friends she was always there. So we had bonded off of a lot of our mutual friends and Kelly, the same thing. We – I had known about Kelly through many friends over the years. Like, I had heard stories about this Korean girl who was a Delta and, you know, how I didn’t know her or I should get to know her because, you know, we had a lot in common. And then one day we met through a mutual friend and I’m like, oh, you’re her. And was like, oh yeah, you’re you.
EricaVain: People would – well, sometimes you get to see that females working within a certain industry like the entertainment industry are more so catty and competitive instead of being able to support each other. What advice would you give to girls who are trying to make it and still keep friendships alive and be able to still support each other but still go for their goals. Like, how do you all make it work?
Eva Marcille: Well, I have a motto that I live by. I know my girls are so tired of hearing it, especially Denyce. But I always say that as big as the sky is and how many stars can fit in the sky, that’s how many stars can fit on this earth. So I don’t think that there is a limited amount of space for an entertainer, for a singer, for a dancer, for a model, for an actor. Denyce being one of my best friends, we’re both actresses, we both work all the time and we never have to deal with competition from that level. What’s destined for her that God made for her was written for before she was here. So, I – my job as a friend is to merely support her in her endeavors, and what’s meant for me is made for me. And I don’t think that there is a need to compete against each other because there’s enough room for all of us to shine. All of us our light could shine extremely bright and it could be absolutely beautiful. No one has to be bigger or outshine anyone else or – it’s not about that and I think once we get to a place of unity, because there’s strength in numbers, and you start uplifting your friends and not putting your friends down, then you’ll find a lot more happiness in your own life. But I’m overjoyed when I hear Denyce got a new film or she just booked something, it’s like I feel like I booked it because when people see her they think of me anyway. So it makes me feel good.
Denyce Lawton: Yes, no big deal. Like, I feel like the – someone asked the question earlier, so it kind of ties in but, basically one of the things that I learned mostly from being on the show is, you have to – and to be in this business and to be anywhere behind the camera, in front of the camera, you have to have a strong sense of self because if you don’t have your own identity, you’ll fall into those folds of trying to be what everyone things you should be. And so, when you try to live up to those expectations, you end up failing yourself because then you weren’t true to yourself or you’re trying to be politically correct all the time and you’re trying to make sure that everybody is happy with the results of whatever it is that you say and do. And, I think that one of the greatest things about meeting Eva – you know, people have their comments and people will have their perception on a lot of the editing and the dialogue and I think even Kelly at one point felt like, you know, there’s a lot of competition between me and Eva because we’re actresses. But what they don’t know about our friendship is that there actually isn’t, at least not internally. Is there competition when we go into an audition room, of course. Does she want to get the role, of course. Do I want to get the role, of course. We rarely audition for the same roles but if we do, of course, we want to on our own get that project. But if we end up not getting it to the other person, if Eva gets the role instead of me, I don’t begrudge her, I’m excited for her. And what she normally does is what I would do is say hey, okay, is there another role for my girl Denyce. And if not, keep…
Eva Marcille: Exactly.
Denyce Lawton: …her in mind for the next project. I don’t know how many times….
Eva Marcille: pilot season.
Denyce Lawton: Yes, during pilot season… I don’t know how many times I’ve gotten phone calls when Eva is on a set from a producer or somebody saying oh my God, did not know you and Eva were friends but this girl cannot stop talking about you on set. So…
Eva Marcille: And during pilot season this year, I remember there was a pilot and the girl had to be a dancer and so I didn’t even think to audition for the role, I left it in my email. And then Denyce said something about the project a couple weeks after I knew about it and she needed to size for it, so I sent them over to her and she ended up going in and testing for the project. And then there was another…
Denyce Lawton: At 2:00 in the morning.
Eva Marcille: …exactly – that Denyce went out on and she got notes from the creator and so she came back and was like, look Eva Marcille:, this is what they said, they don’t want this, I know it says this but don’t do that. Like, we help each other because, I mean, we could look up and no one could get the job, so at least one of us could get the job, you know.
EricaVain: Okay, and my last question is will we see any other celebrities interacting with you all on the show, if you’re able to tell us?
Denyce Lawton: Oh, lord.
Eva Marcille: I’m just going to say yes. You will see – we cannot give any spoilers but yes you will and it’s going to be great.
Denyce Lawton: Yes. We didn’t want to do a whole bunch of gags and be like, oh well, join us this week because so and so’s on the show. We wanted it to be really authentic and – because yes, we know a lot of people but that’s not what our everyday life consist of is running into Tom Cruise or Rihanna. So…
Eva Marcille: Well, but there’s a yes and the no because Denyce as an actress, her friends and mentors in the business are people that are famous and so…
Denyce Lawton: Right.
Eva Marcille: …maybe where we look at them like oh, they’re just our friends. Denyce you get, you know, you have very famous friends that your with that just give you amazing advice and then…
Denyce Lawton: Right.
Eva Marcille: …like Nikki Chu, being an interior designer and doing what she does, she interacts with celebrity clients every single day. And so we look at them as regular people but they’re definitely known faces in the business and same thing with Kelly Marie Dunn. Being a manager of amazing musicians and talent, you get to see Grammy award winning artists in the studio with Kelly and prepping for photo shoots. So, you do but it’s still more like Denyce said, with business in mind. It’s not…
Denyce Lawton: Yes, exactly.
Eva Marcille: …you know, that much of our personal life, though it does exist. You shall see. Stay tuned.
Tune in to the New Show Monday, September 3rd at 11pm ET / PT.
