Larenz Tate isn’t looking for a money grab when pursuing acting roles in Hollywood.
The “Love Jones” actor took the stage on Oct. 12 during the Building Wealth Today for Tomorrow (BWTT) Financial Empowerment Summit held at Chicago, IL’s UIC Forum. The one-day event, free to attend, is designed to promote generational wealth building.
“Building Wealth Today for Tomorrow is the largest financial education program of its kind. It brings together experts and leaders from businesses, community organizations, and city, state, and federal agencies to lead workshops and discussions that help Chicagoans build a more financially secure future,” Chicago’s City Treasurer Melissa Conyears Ervin said in a statement shared with AFROTECH™.
Taking to the main stage, Tate, Westside Chicago’s very own, was candid about his foray into the entertainment industry, which unfolded after he moved to Los Angeles, CA, with his family to join his father, Larry, who worked in education for a number of years. The area where they lived was beginning to be impacted by a drug epidemic, which prompted Tate’s parents to enroll their children in performance arts schools to distance them from that environment.
“They got us into performing arts to keep us busy, to kind of keep us out of the streets, if you will…We never went to Los Angeles to become actors or be in the entertainment business. We just went there for some other opportunities, and thanks to our parents, they got us involved in the performing arts. And from there our careers have taken off,” Tate said during BWTT.
Tate is now known for roles in films such as “Love Jones” and “Dead Presidents.” He was also featured in the show “Power.” Speaking about his role in the series, which was created and co-produced by Courtney A. Kemp and 50 Cent, Tate reveals he accepted “peanuts” when he signed on, even though his agents didn’t understand why because they believed he should be on a primetime show or guest star on another show.
“I got paid literally peanuts compared to what I got to,” he explained. “My agents went crazy. ‘Why are you doing this? You didn’t tell us.’ I said, ‘Because I don’t need your permission to do the thing that I wanna do with the community that makes sense to me.’”
Tate advanced negotiations with Kemp and 50 Cent, seeking to play an intellectual figure, which materialized as the role of Councilman Rashad Tate.
Tate would be asked to return to the series beyond the guest appearance. Despite continued resistance from his agent, Tate negotiated his contract with the help of a lawyer who he regards as a “brother that understands.” In the end, his final earnings from the role made up for the initial shortfall.
“The agent’s like, ‘Are you sure you want to be on that show?’ I said, ‘Here’s the deal. I’m gonna negotiate this without y’all’… When we started to negotiate the kind of money that we got, oh, they was like, ‘This is the best show. This is great.’ And of course that was their last check,” Tate explained.
He added, “Transformational moments in my career, this is what I’m talking about. I started this process on ‘Power’ with making a small amount so much that after taxes and paying everybody, I didn’t have any money. It was basically, I did it on the love, but I was okay with it because it spoke to my spirit, it spoke to me, it spoke to y’all. I didn’t know that it would ultimately gain me more involvement with the show. And the more I got involved with the show, the more value that the network understood I had. So y’all know how valuable I am. So we went to go negotiate. I made up all the time… We straight.”
