Amber Riley is HU Founder Jason Lee’s latest guest for the seventh episode of “The Jason Lee Show,” airing this Tuesday on REVOLT. The actress became a household name after being cast in the former FOX teen musical “Glee,” where she played Mercedes Jones for six seasons before the series drew to an end in 2015.
Despite the show’s popularity, Riley admitted that her time on the show was far from exciting or pleasant as one would have assumed. Being from Compton and finally landing her big break on one of the biggest shows airing at the time was a huge feat for the 37-year-old, but behind closed doors, Riley had been battling anxiety — so much that when she started working in Hollywood, her disorder only worsened.
“I get older and I get on a TV show, and you start making all this money, but nobody has ever taught you how to manage money. Nobody’s ever taught you how to manage fame,” Riley said. “I always felt I was pretty normal growing up, and then you get on television, and everybody’s telling you, ‘You’re fat.’ Everybody’s telling you, ‘You’re too big, and ugly.’
Riley says the pressure of being put in the spotlight with little to no training on how to deal with fame and fortune were just some of the issues that were triggering her battle with anxiety, on top of being called derogatory names for her looks.
And it also didn’t help that Riley had been left with the impression that though she was earning well on “Glee,” she didn’t think her character ever had the chance to actually shine in their own right. Riley noted that at a certain point, it had started to feel like the showrunners were treating her character in somewhat of a stereotypical manner by placing her at the end of a “Glee” song with a little belting.
But as far as substance and story development were concerned, Mercedes somewhat fell to the back while much more focus was placed on other stars of the show, such as Lea Michele, who made headlines just over two years ago for allegedly making racist remarks towards a former “Glee” cast member.
“I’m constantly having to prove myself,” she continued. “It doesn’t matter what I’ve done in my career; I constantly have to prove myself.” Riley stressed that she doesn’t think Hollywood puts the same kind of value on black actors the way they do on white celebrities. It has therefore provided fewer opportunities for people of color purely because of the racial division that continues to exist in the industry.
And if trying to juggle an acting career in an environment where it may sometimes seem like the odds are constantly put against you, Riley further talked about the sort of therapy she’s been getting these past five years and how speaking to a therapist helped her deal with the trauma she’s held on since her childhood years.
Many people may not know that Riley was actually raised in Compton, and she doesn’t shy away from the fact that she grew up in the “hood,” where seeing people overdose and die on the street wasn’t uncommon. Riley says she saw her first dead body when she was just 8 years old.
Despite her rough upbringing, however, her parents were determined to keep her on the right path because they firmly believed Riley would go on to have a big career in entertainment. “It’s almost like my parents knew I was going to be a star growing up and I think I got like training pretty early on from my parents, but I grew up in the hood,” she told Lee.
Catch the full interview on REVOLT TV on Tuesday at 10 PM EST and Wednesday on YouTube’s REVOLT at 5 PM EST!