ALPHAS - THE URBAN DAILY: Exclusive Interview Malik Yoba Is The Ultimate “Alpha” Male
Written by ReBecca Theodore-Vachon
August 1, 2011
Remember once upon a time in the mid 1990′s when Black Hollywood ruled the T.V. airwaves on Thursday nights? After a visit with the Huxtables on the “Cosby Show” and a lesson in higher learning at Hillman College on “A Different World”, over 15 million viewers would tune in at 9:00 P.M. for their weekly fix of “New York Undercover.” Malik Yoba became an overnight sensation in his role as J.C. Williams, a street smart police detective and loving father to his 11 year old son. Since then Yoba has remained a fixture on the pop culture radar, from his role as Jamaican bobsledder Yul Brenner in Cool Runnings to loving hubby Gavin in Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married 1 & 2. Yoba has also kept busy by producing and directing his own web series “Shop Talk” on BET.com.
In his latest role on the hit Syfy series “Alphas” Yoba has been elevated to superhero status–literally. He plays Bill Harken, a former FBI detective with the special ability of “fight or flight.” The Urban Daily caught up with Yoba to discuss his new love for Twitter, his surreal experience working with Janet Jackson, which black superhero he’d like to play on the big screen and why we need to stop whining about the lack of quality black programming on television...
... Q: Congratulations on “Alphas”—it was the most watched series debut on Syfy in 2 yrs. Why do you think the show has been successful?
Malik Yoba: "I think the folks at Syfy are really smart. It’s very enjoyable to be a part of the show–the cast is just great. It’s a network that really seems to understand its core audience and how to appeal to them."
Q: There’s a lot of support for the show on Twitter. How do you like being on Twitter?
Malik Yoba: "I’m actually on Twitter right now. I’m usually on there through my phone, but up in Canada I’ve been off the grid because my U.S. phone isn’t working. So I have my computer on all the time in my trailer. I’ve never seen Twitter as effective as I did in the last few weeks. People have taken ownership of the show. When people reach out to me, I respond to them and engage with them in a very real way. When you engage with people as an artist you know exactly what they feel and what they’re thinking. We live in a different time so I just think it’s amazing..."
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