An Interview with Ralph Cole Jr.

An award-winning actor with phenomenal comedic timing, Ralph Cole Jr. has appeared in some of television’s hottest series, including Desperate Housewives, Scrubs, Cold Case, and Dexter. Expect to see the talented actor in even more series, as well as the films K-11 and Eating Out: The Open Weekend this year. Ralph was kind enough to speak to TheCelebrityCafe.com’s Alec Campagna about his career, radio show, and even Michael Jackson.

TheCelebrityCafe.com: You’ve been identified as a quadruple threat due to your work in film, television, theatre, and radio. What is your favorite medium to work with?

Ralph Cole Jr.: Sitcom television, multicamera is my absolute favorite. I come from a theatre background and I love live theatre and the interactions that you get with an audience and I love the fast pace of scenes and story lines changing. For me, the sitcom satisfies both of those needs for me because with a multicamera sitcom you have a live audience so I get my live scenes there, plus I get the fun and the zaniness of doing whatever I’m doing with a sitcom. I get immediate gratification from the applause or the laughter or just from the audience’s reaction and I get the gratification of, “Great, this storyline is done, we move on next week, we have a different storyline.”

TheCelebrityCafe.com: You have been featured in some of television’s biggest hits including Desperate Housewives, Scrubs, Two and a Half Men, Dexter, and Cold Case. Which has been your favorite series to act in?

Ralph Cole Jr.: Two and a Half Men was a blast and I actually shot that on my birthday, April 6, so that was just an icing-on-the-cake type of thing. I also did another sitcom called Rodney which was a hoot to do because I had so much fun in that episode because they featured me so much and I just got a lot of laughter and it would make me laugh. What I got to do was really funny, so that was a really rocket comedy. Two and a Half Men, as funny as it was, it was not as zany as my character on Rodney, but they treated me so great on Two and a Half Men. On Rodney I had a lot of fun with everybody and you can see that in the episode, the great rapport we all had, it really came across well.

[Desperate Housewives] was fun because I got to be in a comical scene with Marcia Cross and she’s so lovely, she was pregnant at the time and Marc [Cherry] the creator was very nice to come over and direct our scene. So that was a really great treat for me and I love getting to be funny. Basically for every show I’ve been on, I usually get some little bit of humor.

TheCelebrityCafe.com: There is a lot of excitement concerning your roles in Eating Out: The Open Weekend and K-11. What can our readers expect from these films?

Ralph Cole Jr.: From Eating Out: The Open Weekend, they can expect a fun, frivolous romp of men and women exploring and playing with their sexuality and also the theme of legalizing same-sex marriage is a theme in the film and my character deals with that issue. He marries a same-sex partner and it’s actually legal. Eating Out is a franchise and I’m in part five and the other four parts have been very successful. It’s eye candy, the kids in the show are beautiful. I play the older generation, which I was totally fine with and I’m happy to serve that kind of role. And the audience will see a lot of fun, a lot of scantily clad men and women at the pool in Palm Springs, but they’ll also get a good message, that same-sex marriage is OK.

K-11, on the other hand, is a gritty prison drama. I play an inmate in that so it’s a completely different departure than I’ve ever done, shot at a true prison, so it was just very awe-inspiring and eye-opening, just what someone goes through when incarcerated. We were there for a month shooting, so I learned a lot, and what they’ll get from that movie is survival in a prison system. It’s about a man who’s innocently incarcerated and has to find a way out of this particular predicament, so it’s all the series of characters and settings he comes into contact with in the prison system, that’s all explored and dealt with. It’s so funny with the two films I’m coming out with, one audience will come out of the theatre laughing and the other will come out like, “Wooh oooh that was heavy,” so I’m glad to cover both spectrums that way.

TheCelebrityCafe.com: What has been your career highlight?

Ralph Cole Jr.: Being on my sitcom shows was my highlight and starring in Sisterella. Those have been my two biggest highlights because both of those jobs satisfied what I had dreamt about for so many years, which was being in the limelight, being the star of a bigass show, and having throngs of people standing up and cheering and wanting to meet me and being impressed with my singing and energy.

I played the Fairy Godfather in Sisterella and children made dolls patterned after me and would want me to be their Fairy Godfather and that was a really epic highlight for me.

I’ve also taught fitness and I am blessed because I have touched a lot of people’s lives and I know that sounds very egotistical but it just really is true. Just like today, I was in a classroom situation and one of the clients said to me, “I love when I exercise with you because when I leave here I’m able to transfer all that great energy to my twin babies that are two years old” and I thought, “Gosh what a nice comment.” I like being able to touch people that way too, like emotionally, physically through exercise, mentally through laughter, it’s a lot fun. My career highlights have been satisfying me for what I have dreamt of and I’ve gotten to touch all these people’s lives in a positive way.

TheCelebrityCafe.com: What else can we expect from you in 2012 and beyond?

Ralph Cole Jr.: I’m also preparing a one-person presentation. I am a caregiver for my father and I want to write about that and write about how a single man performer was able to take care of his father while still trying to balance his career. I’m developing a reality show where I decorate star trailers and honeywagons on movie sets and TV sets. And I’m also planning on writing a book and I want to just write about my life because I’m so loquacious in real life, I thought what a great avenue, I can write it all down. And people who have parallel or similar paths that I’ve chosen will get something out of what I have to say, so that’s what I’m looking forward to in 2012 in addition to TV shows and films I’ll get to be involved in.

There’s a lot of pending projects that I’ll get to be a part of, which include a sitcom and webisodes because that is the trend of television. I’m also involved in several videos/short films that are very timely and poignant right now and they’re getting a lot of distribution on YouTube and Huffington Post, etc., so I’m looking forward to having those projects parlay into other projects as well. So it is going to be a busy year. It’s already stated being busy. I auditioned for a play last night. It’s another great role. I’m fortunate because the writer of the play, as she was reading my résumé, saw a play she saw me in in 2010 and really liked me in that play.

I’m a co-host on a radio show, too, with Jasper Cole and he is a stupendous and accomplished actor that invited me to be his co-host on his new show On the Set with Jasper Cole that started in September and now we’re in out fifth month and the show has taken off so well and is so successful and we do that every Friday at 6pm Pacific Standard Time at GVBRadio.com. You’re able to hear our show live or come back at any time and listen to the podcast or go to iTunes and look up On the Set with Jasper Cole to hear any of our past shows so that’s gonna keep me busy. And we have very exciting guests every week and we’re developing merchandising and different marketing strategies for the show as well. That’s keeping us really busy and that’s an exciting ongoing project that will be going on for the entire year.

TheCelebrityCafe.com: What’s the platform of the show?

Ralph Cole Jr.: The platform of the show is discussing all things related to the entertainment industry. We have live guests and call-in guests. We have a great friend named Dara Scully who does our entertainment dish and Jasper and Dara and I discuss anything from the Real Housewives to what is going on in current events in the entertainment industry. It’s not all stars, it’s not all about performers, it’s about every aspect of the industry so we welcome casting directors, directors, producers, writers, hair designers, all aspects of this industry. And we create themes for each week’s shows (we also veer off on anything, anything goes on the show).

It’s like having a dinner party when you invite your friends over and before you have dinner you’re just schmoozing and sitting around talking. And that’s exactly what we do around our oval table at Global Voice Broadcasting, and if guests are not able to come live into the studio, they call in and we have a great discussion with them. It’s a lot of fun and we get to talk about entertainment.

Jasper named the show On the Set with Jasper Cole, so if either one of us is on set during Friday at 6 we call in from the set and that has happened too. For example, when Eating Out premiered in Palm Springs I was there for that opening. So rather than sitting in the studio I called in and told our listeners what was going on in Palm Springs. It’s all about entertainment and showbiz.

TheCelebrityCafe.com: Perhaps your most recognized role is that of Babaloo in the Robert DeNiro and Michael Jackson produced Sisterella. Were you able to interact with those two icons?

Ralph Cole Jr.: Yes, I did. Michael Jackson and I actually went to school together, we were in junior high school together. Robert DeNiro and I met in LA because we did the presentation in NY and LA, so I got to meet Robert out here and he was one of our executive producers and he liked my performance, which was a thrill for me because I’m meeting an icon and he’s someone I’ve always looked up to. And to have Michael Jackson involved and quote lines I was saying in the play in meetings, that was always exciting, really fun too to work with both of them and have their name and their mark attached to our show, which was very successful.

TheCelebrityCafe.com: Did you always know you wanted to pursue acting?

Ralph Cole Jr.: Yes. I’ve always wanted to be a performer; I’ve always liked it. It’s just how each one of us develops. Something in my system, I have a lot of energy and I like performing. It’s kind of manipulative in a way, if you think about it. I like making people laugh and I always have been able to do it without even trying.

A woman found me on Facebook and we knew each other when we were four years old in nursery school and she tracked me down and she wrote me and said, “I remember you made me laugh so much and your incredible energy.” And I thought, “Wow at four years old I can still remember being in that school with this girl,” and I thought “God, isn’t it amazing how we are so shaped at a young age.” We all change, of course, but my journey started when I came out of my mother wanting to perform and with high energy from that point on. And to just get that validation out of the blue (this happened right after the New Year, [when] I got this Facebook message), it was just really eye-opening for me to realize, “God I have been totally consistent my entire life,” and I’m fortunate for that and I don’t take it for granted. I’m very fortunate that something I’ve always loved to do I’m able to do and pursue and I still enjoy it and that’s a very nice thing for me.

TheCelebrityCafe.com: Who is an actor you would love to work with?

Ralph Cole Jr.: Angela Bassett because she’s such a staunch performer and so grounded, not to mention beautiful and very versatile in her roles and I just like the dignity she brings to roles. So, I fancy myself wanting to get a part opposite her, playing her brother, playing her best friend, doing something so I can have some scenes with her so I can just look into those eyes. And I mean I’ve met her before but to work with her and get to have a meaty scene, Angela would be really fun to work with.