Last week Bossip was invited to a special lunch with Kylie Bunbury and De’Vaughn Nixon — stars of the new Disney movie Prom . In the film Kylie and De’Vaughn play the school’s most popular couple, Jordan and Tyler. De’Vaughn (who is the son of retired NBA baller Norm Nixon and stepson of Debbie Allen) has made an appearance on Bossip before but we’re glad to see his career continue to flourish and we figured this was the perfect opportunity to introduce our readers to these young stars – especially since Hollyweird isn’t always easy on actors of color. Check out some of the media lunch chitchatter and more pictures of De’Vaughn and Kylie below: Q: Being new to the game (De’Vaughn did The Bodyguard as a child) what has this film meant to you two? DN: This is sort of a rebirth to my career. So I know that they’re going to launch us.. you know? Shine us in the right light. KB: Definitely a whirlwind given the fact that that this is my first film and to be associated with a driving force like this movie is like insane. And also the people that we worked with are so amazing which…. well so basically, like I’m waiting for something bad to happen. DN: Everything’s been a fairy tale! KB: Yeah it’s truly amazing. We are very blessed. Q: De’Vaughn you come from a family of women who are talented. Your stepmother Debbie Allen and your aunt Phylicia Rashad. When you started out to be an actor did you go to them and say I wanna be an actor? And what kinds of encouragement words did they give you? DN: You know they actually just told me to follow whatever I wanted to do. Just follow my dreams. Just be passionate. One of the biggest things that I took from both of them is their drive. Debbie’s just a jack of all trades. I mean, you know the saying ”You throw something on the wall and whatever sticks?” She threw everything on the wall and everything stuck. She’s a choreographer, director, actress…To see how passionate she is about what she does is unbelievable because you know she could very well retire. But it’s what fuels her; it’s what drives her. Phylicia, she’s one of the sweetest people that you’ll ever meet. She is Mrs. Huxtable in real life. It seems like its fake because she’s so nice. It’s so strange for me to see that. How sweet of a woman she is. Her roots are in theatre. She’s just a powerful actress. Her advice is just do this. Just study the greats. Sidney Poitier. Watch old Denzel Washington films and just know your history and where you’ve come from as a black actor because it’s constantly a struggle for us. There’s not a lot of roles out there for male black actors. You just have to stay positive, and just be educated is one of the most important things they could’ve taught me. Q: Debbie Allen has also had a history of interjecting school into her projects from “Fame” to “A Different World” and now you’re doing prom. What types of conversations did you guys have with regards to you having the school with the film? DN: Well I initially told her I was doing the film and she was very excited for me. Being an African American actor in a Disney film and… “You guys have all seen the movie right?” OK. And being glorified like we were which was prom King and Queen!…. They could have easily flipped it and made it another couple but she was like “Just go out there and be strong. You want me to pull some “Different World“ footage so you can see Dwayne Wayne? You know so she was just like take it as it comes and she just told me to be humble. She was just like go out there and be yourself. Just be humble. We never really compared “A Different World” and Prom . She’s just very supportive of me. KB: That was one of the things I loved most about the script was that, for teenagers high school is a very vulnerable time and I love the fact that my character was confident and showed independence and didn’t conform to the norm of sort of just, ya know, doing the stereotypical thing. That spoke to me. Q: I wanted to know did you have any control of what you were going to wear to the prom in the movie? KD: I’m older than 17, so my style is a little older so we had to sort of take that back. I definitely had some say though. There were some things that were pretty young. Other than that I did let Disney sort of… They knew what they wanted. I tried on some other dresses that I preferred, but I’m a little curvier so they didn’t want anything tight. DN: They didn’t want to show that booty! Q: De’Vaughn you are so funny. You really are hilarious and I can see you in a different comedy role. Is there somewhere down the line your possible thinking of getting into some other roles? DN: Definitely. I’m a bit older so I’m using this as a launching pad for my career. I wanna do every thing. I definitely don’t want to be hold into certain type of genre in film. I wanna be how Will Smith does, like how Tyler Perry does, like how Brad Pitt does. So any role that I do.. I just wanna be familiar and I think that’s one of the most important things to being an actor. So yeah, I would love to do some comedy! Write a movie for me. Q: Do either of you guys sing? KB: I sing. DN: She hasn’t sung in any of the interviews we’ve had. See we did “The Monique Show” and she made me dance. You know so I dropped it like it was hot… KB: Right now I’m just trying to focus on acting for sure. As far as singing, I don’t want to do anything too poppy. I would rather just do a guitar and be singing something low key. Q: De’Vaughn, we know Debbie Allen is your stepmom. What king of influence did your father (retired Lakers player Norm Nixon) have? What did he tell you by way of advice that you could take and put into your acting career? DN: It’s funny I actually talked to my dad the other day and I was actually telling him about all of the wonderful things and all the opportunities that have been brought my way because of the film. He always stresses to stay humble. Now my dad wasn’t in the spotlight. He usually took the backseat, but he was always a bulldog on the court. Yeah he told me to stay humble. He always tells me this and I have it tattooed across my arm. It says ‘God bless the child who has his own.’ And never ask for hand outs. Always work hard. Always be about your business. That’s one of the biggest things that I definitely took away from my dad. Q: A really big deal was made this year about the Oscars being kind of a “white out” and I also noticed with a lot of the trailers, we never saw either of you in them. Do you feel the pressure of racism in Hollywood and do you even let it get to you or do you think about it at all? KB: I mean it’s obviously there. It’s prevalent, but I don’t really think about it. That was another good thing that when the scripts were handed out for our characters, they were never really looking for “Black People” for it. And that Joe our director discussed with as well. This wasn’t a planned thing. He said “You guys just fit the characters” and that’s our mentality and that’s how it should stay. Once we make it an issue, that’s when it is an issue. And I mean yeah you think about that kind of stuff but that’s only because….. DN: And also since you guys have seen the film, I’m actually glad that they hadn’t revealed too much of our story line because… when you see this, you’ll be surprised at how much weight we have in this film. I definitely was aware of that but I didn’t let it bother me because I never wanna just be the angry black man. So I’m just gonna ride this. I’m gonna tear it up regardless so this isn’t the last you’ve seen of me from Prom so…..I’m ready to beast this industry ya understand? Q: So you guys are obviously a little bit older than the characters you guys play, so do you guys have any prom stories from your prom days? KB: I went to two proms my junior and senior year, and junior year my dress was…it was a conglomeration of colors that should have never been. But my prom was great, I just looked stupid… DN: I don’t have a crazy prom story but I have a….There was a house party a couple weeks before prom and um I was with all my buddies from high school and my brother was there. And this was when Ginuwine had “So Anxious” out and … so basically the DJ throws on a song and I’m pop locking getting my groove on and I actually pop my knee out of its socket while I’m dancing. True Story. So I fall on the floor and I’m like “Oh, I’ve never felt anything like this before.” And I rolled up my pant leg and my kneecap is actually on the other side my leg, and uh…But the funniest thing is I was at the hospital and my dad comes and he’s like “So man, you popped your knee out dancing huh? You were dancing huh? I can’t even tell my buddies you got hurt playing sports!“ I thought it was hilarious. Q: Did you ever think because your father being the icon that he is, did you ever think about playing sports? DN: I did actually. I was nice in high school. I played basketball in high school. I played pretty much every sport except football because I didn’t like the fact I could get hit. I actually really wanted to follow in my dad’s footsteps. And then I just kinda realized the passion wasn’t there and I just wanna show how silly I could be ya know. SO I took to film and acting. Q: Did you guys love working together? KB & DN: We did. We had a lot of fun. DN: I thought I was gonna have a white girl playing my girlfriend. I was like there’s no way two black people are in this movie! So I called her when I found out she got it and she didn’t pick up any of my phone calls. KB: I don’t recall this. DN: Yeah of course. Selective memory. And then finally she did and we ate at Cheesecake Factory and we talked and we got along. We became friends. It’s not an act. Q: So both of yall single? DN: I’ve been dating someone for quite some time. She’s Italian actually. KB: Right now I’m just focusing on acting. And I’m pretty private and even if I did I wouldn’t probably say. Sorry. Q: You guys were saying you’re older than the characters you play. Do you mind saying how old you are? KB: We’re old enough to drink. KB & DN: We’re both over 21. Q: If you guys could play any role, if you didn’t have to worry about anything what would it be? What’s your dream role? KB: Oh my goodness. I mean everyone wants to play a drug addict right? I also wanted to do a period piece of something older, but I know that ethnically I’d probably have to play a slave. DN: There is no particular role that I can put my finger on but I would love to star in a movie alongside Will Smith, or Denzel Washington or Brad Pitt. Q: What advice would you give to pre-theatre arts majors in acting to try and burst onto the scene? KB: I’m a newbie myself so I have no advice. DN: Plan B. You can’t have a plan B. Because if you do, you’ve already failed, because you’re thinking about failure. Just have your mind set on it and just do it. I was very privileged to meet Tom Hanks back in the day. My stepmother is good friends with Stephen Spielberg… so we went over there. It was Tom Hanks and Martin Short just sitting at a table and I was like “Man what can I do to be like you? What advice do you have for me?” It was as simple as this. He said “Never give up.” That’s all he said to me. I was like “That’s it?” KB: “Sometimes the most cliché statements are the most correct.” Q: What upcoming projects do you have in the works? Where can we see you next? KB: I just finished up a comedy playing Jonah Hill’s love interest. DN: I’m on the “The Hard Times of RJ Berger.”
Link:
New Black Kids On The Block: De’Vaughn Nixon And Kylie Bunbury Shine In Disney’s “PROM”
