Tisha Campbell says she learned a long time ago to not seek accolades for her work in entertainment after a white publicist told her she’d never win an Emmy.
The actress, 55, has enjoyed a career spanning over five decades, having gotten her start as a child on an episode of “The Big Blue Marble,” which helped her nab appearances on the theater stage, commercials, and later on films like “School Daze” and beyond.
Though she is most beloved for starring as Gina Waters, the love interest to Martin Payne, on Martin Lawrence’s cultural gold mine of comedy, “Martin,” Campbell said the show’s ratings and fanfare did not afford her praise at the industry’s awards ceremonies.
In an interview for “Behind the Scenes Beauty with Derick Monroe,” the “My Wife and Kids” star said that mulling over being overlooked and unappreciated for her contributions was not part of her upbringing as an actress.
Campbell shared an anecdote about the time she spoke with her then-publicist about attending the Emmys in 1993. At that time, “Martin” had been on the air for two years and was among the Fox network’s most successful series.
“I just went to the Emmys for the first time in my life, and you know, back then, let’s just say the ‘Martin’ show. For instance, I remember having this publicist who just so happened to be Caucasian…and our second season I asked, ‘Hey, do you think it would be a good idea for us to try to nominate me for an Emmy since you know we’re so successful?’” she recalled.
She alleges the publicist’s response was, “’No, Tisha, now you know you’re not even going to get a nomination.’” Campbell said she suggested trying to “trick” the voting committee by not pursuing the awards ceremony’s top honors, such as Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. “‘What if we nominate me for Best Supporting Actress?’ And she was like, ’Tisha, you’re not gonna get nominated.’ And I was like, ‘Tell me why.’”
Her publicist skirted around saying that her client would be snubbed due to her race, instead telling her, “You know why!” Campbell addressed the unspoken reason with “‘Cause I’m Black?’ She’s like, ‘Pretty much. I’m really sorry, but you’re not gonna get nominated.’”
Instead of complaining, the “I’m Still Here” singer accepted the industry’s then-stance on rarely awarding Black talent. “Back then, we didn’t look at things to get accolades. We were just trying to feed our families, and we had to take away that we would be acknowledged for the things that we do,” she told the celebrity hairstylist.
“[We] could not look at it like that. We could not look at the past. We could not look at our past work. We just had to move forward and continue to do our best and feed our families. That’s what we concentrate on, not anything else,” she added. “I’m not trained in my brain to look for accolades. I’m trained to just, you know, better myself and my craft and love my art form.”
It’s very sad that Martin was never even nominated either. So many Black TV shows never got the proper acknowledgment and accolades. #Emmys https://t.co/D0DaCAQSBk
— 𝙱𝚎𝚌𝚌𝚊 ⚡️ (@MJFINESSELOVER) January 16, 2024
“Martin” ran for five seasons between 1992 and 1997. And despite being a huge hit, the show and its actors were never nominated for an Emmy. This year, the crew, sans late actor Tommy Ford, who played Tommy throughout the series, reunited on stage at the 75th Emmy awards ceremony in January in a replica of Martin’s Detroit apartment.
Ford passed away in 2016 but was honored with a photograph as Campbell, Lawrence, Tichina Arnold, and Carl Anthony Payne II announced the nominees for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. In their skit, the cast acknowledged that the Emmys never acknowledged their undeniable contributions to entertainment.
