Essence Atkins had the honor of being part of Destiny’s Child’s first acting gig.
Speaking with PEOPLE about his upcoming film BET+, Queen of Christmasthe Pope’s house the actress, now 52, fondly reminisced about her days on the Disney Channel when the then-young girl group was a guest on Smart guy.
“Beyoncé [Knowles]Kelly [Rowland]Latoya [Luckett] and Latvia [Roberson],” Atkins tells PEOPLE, naming the original cast. “It was their first appearance on television.”
Essence Atkins 2024.
The group — known as one of the best-selling girl groups of all time — was formed in 1990 in Houston. After several personnel changes, the eventual addition of Michelle Williams, they remained active until the women pursued solo careers in 2006.
Knowles, Rowland, Luckett and Roberson appeared as themselves in one episode Smart guy under the name “Agreement with Fate”.
In the ep, the “Bills, Bills, Bills” singers cause a temporary rift between TJ Henderson (Tahj Mowry) and his older sister Yvette Henderson (Atkins) when Destiny’s Child hires him to be their backup dancer in her place.
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Destiny’s Child and Tahj Mowry in ‘Smart Guy’ 1998.
Walt Disney/WB Television
“Man, we were looking behind the mirror, and it was tight,” Luckett says in a scene after the girl group fails a dance audition.
As TJ’s older brother Marcus Henderson (Jason Weaver) and his best friend Morris “Mo” Tibbs (Omar Gooding), who also auditioned, step forward to acknowledge the compliment, Roberson and Knowles clarify that they’re actually talking about a child, who is “so cute”.
“We could just eat it for dessert,” Rowland says, to which Mowry quips, “Get a spoon, girls.”
Roberson then suggests that Destiny’s Child abandon their original plan and re-make their music video centered around TJ — which doesn’t sit well with Yvette, who has been rehearsing hard for the job.
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The music video director chimes in and says he likes the idea, but Yvette disagrees, adding, “I don’t like it! I’m a keeper!”
“Things change. You’re gone,” barks the director.
Mowry later tap danced with the stars in a special music video for their hit “No, No, No Pt. 2″, a remix featured on Destiny’s Child’s 1999 album. The writing is on the wall.
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The cast of “Smart” — Essence Atkins, John Marshall Jones, Tahj Mowry, Omar Gooding and Jason Weaver.
Walt Disney/WB Television
In her interview with PEOPLE, Atkins called her sitcom “revolutionary.”
For the actress, “the idea of being part of a black family, where there is a son [Mowry] he was a 10-year-old genius, and what it was like navigating the world of high school with his older siblings” was special, she said.
She added that the siblings figuring out their paths while having their television father, Floyd Henderson (John Marshall Jones), as “a single father who was also the primary caregiver” because he was a widower, was “a very progressive story” in that time.
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Smart guy ran for three seasons on the Disney Channel between 1997 and 1998. The sitcom can be streamed in its entirety on Disney+.
Queen of Christmasdirected by Kenny Young, stars Atkins alongside Terri J. Vaughn and Vanessa Bell Calloway. The holiday flick arrives on BET+ on December 19th.
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Source: HIS Education