Maxine Shaw attorney at law is one of the most standout character of the classic TV series, Living Single. But can you imagine the fiery character portrayed by anyone else other than Erika Alexander?
“I was told that one of the big head honchos, after the table read, said ‘Hey, we’re going to have to get rid of Erika because she’s not doing well at this table read,’” Alexander revealed during her chat with Shadow & Act on Wednesday. She revealed that she was almost replaced with another actress.
“I don’t know how I couldn’t not do well, since I had just auditioned the day before and got hired,” she said. Alexander said she had some fans who advocated for her. “There was another head honcho who called him out and said, ‘If you say anything about Erika Alexander, I’ll beat your ass,’” she explained.
Ironically, Erika Alexander and T.C. Carson were the last characters to get casted, and the most beloved ones.
Elsewhere in the interview, she gave advice to Black creatives who are feeling like the odds are against them. “If somebody says no, you have to go around another way,” she said. “…It’s not easy to do that. I hate that people who are trying to sell things that are not in the so-called mainstream have to work so hard to put their voices out there, but that’s just the way it is.”
