In the early 90s, Tisha Campbell’s on-screen career was about to blow up. A part in the kiddie Greek chorus of Little Shop of Horrors had led to more mature work in Spike Lee’s School Daze and the Reggie Hudlin-directed comedy franchise, House Party.
Campbell was convinced she’d caught her biggest break yet, a meaty role in an ABC drama that was slated for a mid-season pickup when Martin Lawrence, the outrageous standup comedian and Def Comedy Jam host who also featured in those two films, approached her about playing his girlfriend in a sitcom pilot he was developing with HBO. And after she boldly said yes, her management’s stunned reaction could be summed up in a single Lawrence catchphrase: You so crazy. “I don’t always do things for traditional reasons,” she told the Guardian. “Sometimes I will do things for friends. Martin had come over to my apartment to convince me to do it, and he would not leave until I committed.”
