ASM: Tell me about receiving the Award of Distinction from the Directors Guild of America for writing, directing, and producing a school film when you were just 13?
Jackson: That was awesome. I wrote a film that I did for my junior high. It was a magnet school, so the programs that I was in were pretty much focused on theatre production, movie production and things of that nature. The film production teacher was actually a really, really cool guy who saw the potential, so he submitted my film to the Directors Guild of America. It was very amazing.
ASM: Your role on "Moesha" came about from your work on "South Central." Ralph Farquhar was the executive producer of both shows.
Jackson: He was awesome. They actually brought me in to be the lead on the role in "South Central," but I was pregnant, and when they wanted to shoot wouldn't work out, so I had to pass on that job. But as the show went on, they just decided to bring me in. I met one of my best friends in the world on that show, Lamont Bentley, and the producers loved me so much that when they decided to do "Moesha" a few years later, they called me in.
ASM: You were called in on "Moesha" to replace another actress, is that right?
Jackson: They had already been filming and I guess the person that they had hired for my role wasn't giving them what they wanted, so they called me up. I had done some other work on a show called "Minor Adjustments," and they called and asked me if I would come in and fill this role. They just really wanted somebody that they knew could handle it, short notice and whatever, and I was like, 'Sure.' So the next day I went over and shot the pilot. It went awesome. And when the show got picked up, they brought me back for the whole first season as a reoccurring. On the last week for filming of the first season, we had a little cast and crew sit-down, and they pretty much told me that I was joining the cast as a regular.
ASM: That must have been an exciting time.
Jackson: I really identified with my character, so it was great. It was a big step. It was huge.
ASM: You were also a mother at the time. How difficult was that working as a regular on your first series and also playing the role of mom at home?
Jackson: I've never looked at it as hard, because I know what my number one priority is, and it's my kids. So as long as I can juggle the two and devote the right amount of attention to both of them, I'm good. Plus, I had help from my mom and my sister, who were amazing. And my kids were young still, so they would stay on the set with me all day and hang out. It was good.
ASM: Many have considered "Moesha" groundbreaking, because it was the first show to center around an African-American teen for the very first time. Would you agree?
Jackson: Oh definitely. It definitely opened up a bunch of doors and made an impact on the industry. It was amazing. It was a great thing to be a part of.
ASM: Tell me about Relation Lipz, the new lip-gloss line that you're launching. I hear that the first one is called "He Cheated" and evolved from a chat with your friends about your life being dragged about in the tabloids for so long.
Jackson: You know what, that just got tired. Every time I went to talk about my work or what I'm doing, that's all that came up. Everybody wants to know, 'Well is it true that he cheated?' So I'm king of a jokester and I like to look at things and find a positive in everything, so I just figured that the next time someone asked me about 'he cheated,' I could talk about something that's going to make me smile.
ASM: Have you always had an interest in cosmetics, or was this your way of fighting back?
Jackson: I was sitting down having lunch with a friend of mine one day and they just thought it would be a great idea for me to start a cosmetics line, because I love lip glosses and it's hard to find a really good one. So she just said, 'You should just start your own lip gloss,' and I said, 'That's a good idea.' So then it was like, it will be funny, I'll call it Relation Lipz and it will have to do with all the relationship stuff, and everything that could happen in a relationship, because that way you never run out of names. It's fun.
ASM: Being a male, I personally haven't worn lip-gloss yet, but I'm sure others will want to know where to find it.
Jackson: They're going to be in Sephora. We're trying to work out a licensing deal right now with a certain chain of stores; I can't really say their name yet. And you'll be able to get it off my Web site as well — SharJackson.com.
ASM: I'm guessing you're going to get a little press around that one.
Jackson: Oh yeah, we're going to have fun with it!
- Comment
