The BET comedy, drama, and romance TV series “Sistas” is about four Black female friends from college who juggle their relationship with each other, their workplace antics, and the men in their lives.
Emmy-Award-winning spoken word artist and former “Orange is the New Black” actor Branden Wellington falls under the “men in their lives” category.
Wellington, who won his spoken-word Emmy Award 10 years ago, plays the series regular role of Tony King on “Sistas.”
Wellington says there was a huge gap in acting gigs between “Orange is the New Black” and “Sistas” and he is infinitely thankful to be working on the BET series. Reflecting on the two shows, Wellington points out an interesting coincidence.
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“This is the second show that’s female driven that I come in on season six as a character,” said Wellington. He also expressed why “Sistas” was important to him on a personal level.
“I fell in love with this show because of the characters and the conversations they were having,” said Wellington. “These were real adult conversations about love and life.
“It helped me have important conversations in my real life, that I wasn’t having. At the time, I was going through a breakup, a separation, with my girlfriend who’s now my fiancé and it helped me look at myself and say, ‘Hey, there are some conversations you need to have here.’”
Wellington says “Sistas” gave him the confidence to have those discussions because he watched the characters have those tough talks repeatedly.
“You realize there’s no fear in tackling these conversations. It’s just a matter of you deciding how you want to approach it,” said Wellington. “Through that I was happy to step in this world (“Sistas”) because I needed this show on a personal level.”
Wellington says his character, Tony, is an employee of the local airport who has an interest in one of the main characters, Danni.
“I come in as someone who meets her at the airport and I know everything about this woman, unintentionally, because we park next to each other and she’s very loud and larger than life at times,” said Wellington.
“For some odd reason, my character thinks it’s a great idea to let her know all the things I overheard about her.”
Wellington describes his character as a recent divorce who recently lost his father and one of his lifelong mentors. He also thinks the character is looking for a reason to believe in love again.
Wellington’s real-life relationship is with his previously revealed fiancé, “Batwoman” and “Survivor’s Remorse” actress Meagan Tandy.
He says being in a relationship with another actor requires extra communication, but he also loves the understanding that comes between two people in the same industry.
“There’s a level of respect we have for each other’s craft, that allows me to maneuver in a way I haven’t had in any previous relationship,” said Wellington.
“I have to go to work and be in another relationship with somebody at work, then I have to leave work and be in a relationship [at home].
“But on a subconscious level, she and I both know this is a job and it looks different on TV than it actually felt.”
Wellington says he and Tandy are still navigating through the process of balancing their own relationship with their audition and work schedules.
However, he remembers during season seven while acting on “Sistas” that they were both at Tyler Perry Studios, at the same time, because Tandy happened to be working on a movie for Perry.
“I would take a golf cart, over on my lunch break, to her soundstage to go see her and say, ‘Hey, how’s it going on your movie?’ And she would say, ‘Going good, how’s your TV show,’” said Wellington.
Wellington says they help serve each other’s professional life purpose. “That’s been beautiful. I’ve never done that before, but now I see the beauty in it,” said Wellington.
Keith L. Underwood is the host of the KBLA Talk 1580 entertainment radio show, “Black In The Green Room.” A former entertainment publicist, he currently develops platforms for performers, creatives, and Hollywood execs to shine and inspire. IG: @umaworldwide.
