The star of Tyler Perry’s hit series, Love Thy Neighbor, gives insight on the third season as well as advice for aspiring actors.
The LA Sentinel catches up with actress Kendra C. Johnson about season three of Tyler Perry’s hit series on OWN, Love Thy Neighbor. She brings her vivacious personality and great comedic timing to the role of Linda Love-Harris.
“Linda is like a lot of women, she’s been through a lot in the past which makes her apprehensive about engaging in new relationships. She’s figuring out her place in the world now that she’s a single mother who’s also recently pregnant after a vow of celibacy, oh my! How did that happen?”
Johnson commends Perry for making her character’s plight universal to all women.“Women come up to me on the street or reach out to me via social media and tell me how much they can relate to Linda. There are so many things that we experience in life as women and sometimes we allow ourselves to feel alienated or we look down on ourselves because we’ve gone through a particular situation. Instead we need to lean on each other and share our stories.”
She continues, “I think that’s what Mr. Perry was striving to do with Linda–help women feel that they are not alone and give them options of how to deal with situations that they may be struggling with through my character. We hope through a comedic vehicle that people are finding solutions.”
Prior to Love Thy Neighbor, Johnson was known for such roles as Stacey in the movie Phat Girlz starring Mo’Nique and Renee in the BET series The Game.She offers this advice to aspiring actors, “If you believe this is the career you want to have, not if you want to be famous, or a celebrity; if you believe it’s a part of your purpose, that will be enough. Lean on that to sustain you through the tough times. Don’t wait for opportunity to fall from the sky. If you actively work and prepare yourself to take full advantage of opportunities, they will inevitably present themselves.”
Outside of acting, Johnson is very passionate about breast cancer awareness. She works with her cousin, a two-time breast cancer survivor who has two boutiques in Georgia specifically for breast cancer patients and survivors. Johnson is also a spokesperson and a member of the advisory board for a non-profit out of Syracuse, New York called Image Initiative, which is an empowerment organization for young women.
Johnson shares advice she would impart to the women she mentors as well as to her younger self. “Trust that you’ve found your path and your passion, trust that you’re where you’re supposed to be and God will bless you when you’re ready.” She emphasized, “WHEN YOU’RE READY! Oftentimes we think we’re ready because we want something so bad but we don’t realize that we’re still being shaped and molded so that we can handle what’s to come. So when you’re ready, you’ll walk into your purpose.”
Season 3 of Love Thy Neighbor premiers Wednesday, January 7th 9pm only on OWN.
