As Whitley Gilbert, Jasmine Guy lit up the small screen in her portrayal of a spoiled, Southern belle on TVs A Different World. The series, which aired from 1987 to 1993, garnished several awards, including Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series for Guy.

Since then she’s gone on to star in major motion pictures such as Spike Lee’s School Daze, and the blockbuster Harlem Nights with Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy; and several films for TV, including Alex Haley’s Queen with Halle Berry. She’s made dozens of appearances on popular TV shows, such as The Fresh Prince of BelAir with Will Smith; and has starred both on- and off-Broadway, on an international scale.

For those who’ve wondered, there’s no moss growing beneath her feet.

Getting To Know Her
During a recent interview with this mega-talented entertainer, Guy shared a more serious side of herself: her goals and even her vulnerabilities. She addresses me first in her sweet Southern style.

“Hello, Judith. How are you?” I respond and ask her the same. “I am great!” she says. The exuberance in her voice is unmistakable – she means it.

“I’m so happy. When I’m doing something I really love, it is just a joy,” referring to her latest project, marking her directorial debut in For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf, which opens August 22nd in Atlanta, GA.

Facing its first hurdle (the Broadway production was recently postponed), producers are now looking for other venues in which to perform. “We could come in one day, rehearse and do the show, do a Q&A. It could be a great Colored Girls weekend. We can offer extras, like a workshop,” her mind racing on where to perform next. She’s determined to make this production work.

Finding Purpose
Having experienced waywardness in her life, particularly in the past few years, Guy often wondered how she could best be utilized, how and what she could contribute – and this show answered many of those questions for her.

Although she’s had previous opportunities to direct other shows, she declined. “Either I didn’t relate to the pieces, or I didn’t know the other components well enough to feel secure.” As she explains, “Colored Girls felt like a good fit. It’s historical in that it changed the landscape of Broadway in the seventies,” since it was the first time a Black woman’s story was told “behind closed doors.”

The Importance of Giving Back
A big believer in giving back, Guy says it’s often important for those with name recognition to attach those names to lesser known projects, which in turns helps in getting publicity and needed financial backing. She commends celebrities like Whoopi, Oprah, Usher, Will and Jada Smith, Samuel L. and La Tania Jackson, and Wendy Raquel Robinson – who have done just that.

She expresses frustration concerning negative publicity that celebrities often receive, while the good works they perform generally goes overlooked.

Having recently attended Usher’s two-week kids camp, she exclaims, “I was just amazed at the level of training that he’s giving these kids.” The camp, already in its fourth year, offers five disciplines: dance, acting, music, sports and video, and is so effective, Guy says, “I want to go to this camp!”

On Being a Woman
In the early nineties, Jasmine met Afeni Shakur, mother of slain rapper, Tupac. Shakur and Guy formed a strong bond, remaining close friends to this day. In 2004, Guy wrote Afeni’s biography, the critically-acclaimed Evolution of a Revolutionary. Of Afeni, she says, “She taught me so much…what she had gone through about being a woman.”

We discuss how on some level [Black] women have “dropped out,” often leaving our men to suffer. Because our revolution [Blacks] is different, “Our cultures are not the same [as Whites]. So while the women’s revolution did some good for us, it didn’t help our men. And some of us are still suffering from that.

“We have different issues that we’re combating. We have broken families that White women didn’t experience. We’re coming from a different lineage to say ‘I deserve this’ when our men haven’t [yet] gotten the benefit.”

Finding Balance
Guy is much clearer and centered today than in her younger years in the business. As she puts it, back then, “The business was my everything.”

“Not getting a role was devastating. It would trip me up for a long period of time. If I wasn’t working, I wasn’t happy. I wanted to work all the time,” she says, reflecting on her early twenties. She credits ‘making a conscious effort to develop herself as a woman’ with helping her put things into perspective. As she puts it, she needed “more of a life” outside of the art.

Today, Guy, who is recently divorced, balances her work life with that of her more important role as mother to her young daughter, Imani. Relating how she’s growing up way too fast, Guy says softly, “Can I just tell you…I dread my daughter growing up and leaving me.”

But knowing her as I now do, I’m convinced that this woman – mother, daughter, friend, actress, singer, dancer, author, and director will prevail. Guy has all the right moves, all the skills necessary, and the strength to endure.

Simply put, Jasmine Guy is unstoppable.