Cortney Wills sits down with actor, writer, director, songwriter, and producer, O-T Fagbenle to discuss how he took on the role of Barack Obama in ‘The First Lady’ and what went into cultivating his career as a multi-hyphenate artist in Hollywood. We also dive in to his turn in ‘We Crashed’ and analyze his beloved ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ character, while pondering what’s next on his long list of upcoming projects including collabs with some equally impressive siblings.

Cortney Wills sits down with Courtney Lilly, showrunner and executive producer of Black-ish to discuss the impact the Emmy/nominated series had on the culture throughout its eight-season run. They will reflect on their favorite moments and what it took to create the series that kept us laughing, crying, and rooting for the Johnson family year after year.

On this weeks episode of Acting Up, Cortney Wills sits down with Will Packer to find out what we can expect from the 94th annual Academy Awards and what went into producing Hollywood’s biggest night. They’ll get into this year’s nominees and discuss what an Oscar win really means for Black creators in 2022. They’ll also tackle the ways the Academy is continuing to make strides toward a more inclusive event and how Will Packer plans to use his secret weapon, Regina Hall.

On this weeks episode of Acting Up, Cortney Wills sits down with ‘Bel-Air’ stars Coco Jones and Cassandra Freeman to find out how they managed to breathe new life into beloved ‘Fresh Prince’ characters, Hilary Banks and Aunt Viv on Peacock’s deliciously dramatic reboot. The ladies take us along on their journeys through Hollywood and describe how they have combated colorism in their own careers and the ways this new iteration of an old favorite is making big strides in representation onscreen and beyond.

On this week’s episode of Acting Up, Cortney Wills sits down with Samuel L. Jackson and Dominique Fishback to discuss their roles in the new limited series from Apple TV+, ‘The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey.’ Jackson executive produced and starred in the series based on the book by Walter Mosley and reveals what went into his breathtaking portrayal of a man struggling with dementia. Fishback is equally impressive in the project and during this intimate conversation, she gets real about taking control of her characters and her career.

On a special bonus episode of Acting Up, Cortney Wills sits down with Babatunde Akinloye, Bruce W. Smith, Michael Yates and Marlon West; four men behind some of Disney’s most beloved projects, like Princess and the Frog, The Proud Family, Soul and Encanto and broke down what it takes to tell diverse stories that reflect our community in animation and discusses their journeys as black creators at Disney.

On this weeks episode, Cortney Wills sits down with Director, Sacha Jenkins to discuss his latest project “Everything’s Gonna be All White.” The 3-part docuseries that debuted on Showtime on February 11 pulls no punches while diving into the history of racism in this country. The provocative project features insights from Jemele Hill, Tamika Mallory, Amanda Seales, and Nell Irvin Painter as well as hip hop veterans from Roxanne Shante to Havoc to Styles P among others who all help to paint a picture that some folks just don’t want to see. Find out how Jenkins feels about the backlash and what he hopes audiences will take away.

On this week’s episode, Cortney Wills sits down with National Geographic Explorer and Storyteller, Tara Roberts. The ladies discuss “Into the Depths,” NatGeo’s new podcast that follows Tara as she chronicles Black divers, marine archaeologists, and historians on a quest to examine slave ship wrecks and uncover the little-known truths about the Middle Passage. They’ll also dive deep into the astounding discovery of The Clotilda, the last known slave ship to arrive from Africa in 1860, and examine how what lies beneath the surface stands to change so much about how we understand our history.

Cortney Will takes a deep dive into Descendant, the award-winning documentary that debuted at Sundance Film Festival and revealed the riveting true story of The Clotilda, the last known slave ship to arrive from Africa in 1860. The people it carried to the U.S. arrived 40 years after the slave trade was outlawed, and they established a community called Africatown. The film follows their descendants, who kept the truth about their ancestors alive through oral history passed down generations, truths that have finally been legitimized since the ship’s wreckage was discovered in 2018. Director, Margaret Brown takes us along on her journey for truth and historian Dr. Kern Jackson offers his take on the implications of this monumental discovery and decades-long cover up, and the role Zora Neale Hurston played in this true story that’s stranger than fiction.

Cortney Wills dives into HBO’s ‘The Gilded Age’ with one of its stars, Audra McDonald to discuss how the show is exploring the often-overlooked experiences of the Black elite in the 1890s. The pair will highlight the little-known plight of the people who went North after slavery and how they built careers, accumulated wealth, and cultivated communities that were thriving in the North while Jim Crow was busy wreaking havoc in the South. Cortney also sits down with one of the show’s executive producers and historical consultant, Erica Dunbar, who illuminated the real history that informs this groundbreaking project that reminds us that the Black experience consists of much more than we’ve been told and Black wealth is nothing new.