Previous president s overseas to improve their an election chances. Protesting the blasted with water cannon in israel as angle boils over at the governments handling of the pandemic and the alleged corruption of the prime minister. About with more headlines at next hour up next comedian and commentator Dennis Miller look at this clip from a range of artists and entertainers and Dennis Miller. Hey folks Dennis Miller here coming up on Dennis Miller plus one connection Lynn Whitfield you know or shes on oprahs network b. N. On a show called greenlee thats not a mega church she kills it shes the matriarch and well talk to her about that and well talk to her about her long and storied career cool day i chatted with her a little before we went on next when whitfield on Dennis Miller plus one. Hey folks welcome to Dennis Miller plus one and in the age of. You do these things by remote and nobody nobody pulls a remote together like my guest len would fit with got the flow over her right shoulder. With the blots which crew are nates with the peaches and the ball in the beautiful painting over the other shoulder in the factual on the right its absolutely beautiful you know. d were built she is a Emmy Award Winner and appeared in many films of the a step mom head of state that is Family Reunion she currently stars on her own series oprahs dynasty as of the greenlee and shes want to double a c. P. Awards for her work over there the 5th and final season of the show has pushed out a harbor already at premiered on june 23rd you can find it on w n the 0 network lynn how are you im fine you know or you didnt its group b. And i have not crossed your path in the last 30 years but can i tell us that or that or talk did in joes been bigger they just thought to leave that one tucked in because you absolutely inhabited that land both you killed that role. So much fun and you know i can still relive those moments like like yesterday actually you know mind thats how it was then and you know years past that yeah it was a great honor to bring that woman to life in it for people to know more about what she did she was extraordinary extraordinary folks when you hear that had invented sonar i know theres a documentary out there youve got a clock Josephine Baker because this woman went from the hard streets of st louis to ill san louis where she was the belle of the ball in the city of lights she did all the great social causes she also well she was this the song and dance darling of paris and im telling you i hope her family savers what lynn did with it because she made or its there for good now it was always there for good shes an immortal but you killed that role good for you thank you thank you so much. You know its funny. I was there during the downtime here i was watching the show the wire which i had never caught up with my son great show were sitting there watching it i go wow this is its up its here its a little darker but i said im these are you is there ever been a show like this i say well its well different because it was network but during when i was growing up hill street blues was a monster show and i think thats the 1st time i remember you didnt you were on that show for a while right i. Got to be repaid great group of people it was you know actually tori and black girlfriend and its dealing bochco no sex or great group of people breaking new ground back then they thought might really be a tough for miley to begin my vow that you are a match you know where i am far different than that but yeah it was an exciting time because this whole idea of. Of ensembles and something more rough and rugged it was afoot and which Steven Bochco is you know became famous for and it was like a. Big change in what t. V. Looks like and i got to be like a small part of that it was cool that was very cool and i think comes out of the bochco family goes on to do deadwood they birthed the real thing that when Michael Conrad would do those meetings at the beginning say stay frosty air that in the yeah sure and we were the 1st time you thought well ill be in cops theres a whole world there were not privy to oh yeah absolutely and i also have to give it critters were going to get to the the show greenleaf which is what lynns current projects in its final Season Series we have to talk 6 but i also loved you as ray and silverado you and danny oh i got lis is that why i knew you know we had the same in south its like oh i meant had caught now you know this is like a great thing to be in a cast with Kevin Costner you know jeff gold bloom and on and on says starts karen klein and every night after we shot. Larry would have like food or popcorn drinks and we would watch the dailies so it kind of took the edge off the reference of you know. We could all kind of be in the room together and support each other and our own that grotto in new mexico where they built that whole city of so boratto and guess what i looked in my pantaloons what they were a little peddling you know had all these costumes western costume we did it right you know they built around all they you know rented some things and i was putting on my pantaloons and guess whos name was in it. Video and leave. Yeah. Wow wow wow wow all that is. Rich stuff and you know western costume would keep things and it didnt miss it took everything i had not to steal them i want to thank them and you know ive never had to somebody elses drawers to be that important but. You know whats amazing lynn is that i saw a story last week a picture of a livia de havilland riding a bike in paris shes 104 years old and can you will leave were going back to scarlett miss melia still alive living in paris and was riding a bike as late as last week that blew my mind how inspiring is that how. That you know that you know well announce fired by her for sure now well listen im telling you to let me lend you work for a person who 2 probably one of the most and inspirational people of our era oprah over on her network on the show greenlee and is there any truth to the story that at the beginning oprah was going to play the character or to tell me about tell me about how you get the character on greenlee. I think that craig right you know 6 feet andare so great its been a great show runner for so many shows hes a marvelous writer he wrote the pilot and gave it to oprah and said over our i think you should play a lady mate and after she read it she said i think youre 2 people in this that i know should be in and thats Lynn Whitfield and keith david so go get them i know she said she thought that i would be that i would be good for it so yeah lovely to be invited to do something by Oprah Winfrey right. So many times in his business you got to chase it and chase it ard you end up in North Hollywood in a fluorescent let room with for money people given you a thought. To get it balanced out by saying hey a whole is offered here and what isnt. Lets know it i know they said well you know you have a conversation with showrunner craig right by phone i said of course oh well i dont know why they wanted me to do this role because she was written like a real sour. Bet dress and blue shoes kind of but kind of like a lady who is like ok im a christian holy priest the like 5 you know and very judgments all and and so i said well why do you want me to please you know when i looked last i dont know that this is me he said no what we want you to put your spin on and you know it we just seeing that i thought we had the interview by phone and at the end of the conversation he said well so can i call her and tell her you do this because you have to do this because oprah want you to do this and i said well yeah lets go for it and then the negotiations began but it is as an artist you know this is for someone to put confidence in you just off the bat like you dont have to fight for you know work for it somebody says i believe you can breathe life into this and its its rare and its wonderful. You know run through walls for that person because theres enough they say are there when you get the guy at the helm and he looks over at you and gives you the thumbs up or the gal at the helm is all right i can come to work each that dont have to spend an hour get my esteem together i can just dive into this and kill it die and then with authority because people believe it you and i think thats what you know more artists we need that we need or want to say you know we believe in you you dont have to go through hoops we know you we know your work go for it and you go for it with another kind of authority because youre not trying to prove anything except just do your best work you know. I always look at great actors and i think you know i read a book called the inner game of tennis maybe 30 years ago and it translated to life because the guy said if youre not going to swing at the ball and hit out all the way youre going to knock everything out of bounds and thats what great acting is at some point if youre hedging any sort of mental but out there it puts off a know it everybody senses it it looks studied halting they start to lack confidence in it when you hit out on it you get top spend and the people at home are exhilarated that youve gone for. So much fine and you know when you do that as intended goes and its terrible to the slayer but you know when you make it you see it and you see it oh my god. I hope heaven is this good. Were talking a little bit field were talking about the series greenleaf thats in her final season on oprahs network over there it premiered on june 23rd so were still really into it you can circle back around thats a great thing with streaming it picked this up but you want to be there as they ride it into the barn because its a great show and when we come back were going to talk about lynn start not i touched on a little with hill street silverado but i want to see who made a dent on her who taught her great shops well talk about that right after this on Dennis Miller plus one with Lynn Whitfield. I 1st heard about. From the helicopter folks in iraq. I think that people have been in and of its military who have never forgiven. This guy. Look let me give you some he was really starting to happen. In the pending journalese and that means youve heard. Seen a lot of crimes to know what audience. The idea of developing an anonymous digital trombones and appliance in the media consensus meant to take something that was a friends. Going to the floor and just write it would be crucial. And one of the worlds most powerful news will remain for the theory of sanderson to celebrate founder to the song give a song and. Then there was a great deal of jealousy in the mainstream for the song the fit why wont it be more like all that q. Seen all for. Instance with a. Smile. On her during. Her time we have julia outside in solitary confinement in the prison for terrorists a way to keep the house alive for some. I dont see him dying to know. What hes been. One of the greatest if not the greatest church in the history appreciate it he will soon be converted into a mosque what is the importance of the hottest sophia and for whom Europes Energy Security is not independence its in the bounds. Of pretty strong. Hi folks welcome back to Dennis Miller plus one were joined by the delightful uncomely lakota cup here to fully orchestrated the Color Palette is in the backdrop there Linda Westfield and you know her from the Josephine Baker store and i still have to shake my head folks she inhabits that really its. A crazy good performance go back and watch it if you havent seen a green leaf is the show were talking about now shes won 2 and the boy c. P. Awards for work on there in the 5th and final season started on june 23rd not too far out to harper so jump in there and take its set in a mega church where just such a great place to set these things thats such a weird concept to me want to goes from bringing in the show to bring in the tide thats i understand that these churches more of our time is where i get a creepy by well thats it you know thats why i wanted to do this right because i feel i owe a lot of that is gotten way off kilter and out of control you know when you go from. You know like your whole thing is to say souls and lead people and you get into all this real estate a and you know it real estate spending money making money becomes the thing what the offering is. You know pastor priest your appreciation and hes private planes and rolls royces and and so i want to talk about that and really be a part of a conversation that says that you know hey look you were not following a man you know the pope is cool. These big mega you know tele mock. Telemarketing bastard you know selling. It. I dont get her homeland but i all i do know is that people find their way to some belief and i try not to question them but for me i want my guy to be nearer to god not because hes in his own gulfstream jet that just doesnt want my cat in sackcloth i want him really humble i want him brought to the caused by the fact of this deep love and belief he has for us whoever is crazed and i just dont get all the ancillary marketing but whats that i see that happen thats why it was i was so thats part of the reason that i wanted to do this project because i wanted to you know demystify leadership of any kind really you know because at the in the day its not a man who is supposed to be following it putting on a pedestal you know men always going to make mistakes with fallible were you know vulnerable you know and this consequence so to be able to present this family. Family business happens to be a mega church with all of its flaws and your still deep love within the family i just felt like i want to contribute to people being able to look objectively at leadership and say like is this guy cool right now or maybe he has an issue but in fact thats not what im looking at but what i need to get you know the relationship or any spiritual or less whatever your practice is its very impersonal you know and we shouldnt be looking at men to give us the answers to god or the deity or whatever the practice if its meditation if its what youre not looking to that you know doctors lawyers indian chiefs you know anything congressman senators all of that stuff is service jobs theyre all service jobs theyre there to serve the people. Pastors appear to sate souls so i kind of wanted to be a part in this very dynasty glamorous rate deconstruct. What this is all about so ok we get into the we now with my intellectual. Heading into the weeds you know when i read your notes i came across an interesting interview and where somebody had called you an icon in the interview and you were very polite very demure but you also will not bridle but you werent quite comfortable with the iconography of that and i study boy that makes sense to me they throw that around too much in this world i think you become a National Want to because youre a pro you show up youre pro you do great work for around 40 years and all of a sudden they start applying i caught on and i would always be comfortable i know Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson always called each other pro and i dug that i dig prose and i think for all but youre right of that icon i thought others were with some humility good for her yeah because you know youve been around this is a long time and one of the most i. Anti Creative Things you can do is to start to believe your own high and believe all of that you know because the minute i start like yes let me tell you young people ive been here on my shoulders you stand its been hard. And youve got to. Listen i didnt want the next great gig i want the next great character that i cant you know kind of slip and slide and you know what askew with you know slaloms like let me take it out and kind of just go for trier out give it some lie read like defender like you know like a trojan horse woman the you know and that because thats the joy of the fun of it so when people say those things it just sounds like an easy and easy kind of an its an r. It is a compliment of course but what does that mean that i dont even know what it means because im only as good as the last work i do because just as easily tomorrow i could do so they could say i did you see with this she lost her chops that what next well of course i dont want to use profanity but you know what i mean. You know youre only as good as a careers are made a continuum of work its not one thing you know next you do so i guess when they say that what happens is that i thought oh my god i cant mess up on the next gig if theyre thinking like this about me ive got to really you know live up to that and when they start with the legend thing im like ok look i know you young actresses want me to get out the way but im not going anywhere. And thats my approach to showbiz too i never saw the far shore to me it was like a little pond and i was just looking for the next. Lily pad to stay dry for a little longer i knew if i did yes bunch led get to the shore but you missed the point that it is a gig due to the people who are humble about it and bring their toolkit to it for god sakes i was reading in your notes about Audrey Hepburn and how you dug her now i saw a documentary last night about bill hold it was called the golden boy and they had a scene of her and him from sabrina and sydney on that was talking and hes a some people just have it and bill holden had it and then they cut to the reverse and i thought well bill holden had it Audrey Hepburn had it like times 10 because she was luminescent and she was always so humble and i always listen to Audrey Hepburn as the camera coming on are you just sort of stunned at what a big star she you keep your eye certainly i kid i would do my comments actually exactly amen to that. Were tigerland woodfield and the show is obviously greenleaf and its on oprahs network its in the final season it premiered on june 23rd so like i said were not too far out a harbor and with streaming you can go around and catch up on anything you know lynn when we said you were going to be on we got some social Media Questions and i was wondering if youd feel a couple from your fandom well well if. Youre a legend i absolutely adore you youre a. Its no not thats. Lynn is ready for a close up mr de mille all right matthew hello on face book. Now you know youre so young when you get the Josephine Baker its such a key choice assignment im trying to think how much progress and matthew policies how much prep was there to play josephine did you just Read Everything you could. I Read Everything i could i looked at every bit of silent footage that there was of her and i study photographs because i think like a picture speaks a 1000 words you know in photographs when someones on and theyre posing for the camera but in those moments when when they dont know the cameras on them and there were a few she was getting off of the ship and there was no sound and she was getting a lot of you know everybody giving her flowers and katies and she was so glamorous and there was about 10 or 20 seconds where she looked like so lost and so lonely in the middle of this you know sea of white people somewhere in europe who were just loving her and this though st louis girl you know a lot of barbecue group just as much as she loved her you know and culture cult and she looked longingly and then inform so much you know when i saw theres lots of footage of her and she kind of does this thing with her shoulders and to me it looked like dont you think im cute do you love me i love you and i used that so i used to know and i did not want to talk to a lot of people who knew her because people always have the spend on and i. Strong powerful woman like that and kind of corner. There market of truth on who she is so i didnt want to talk to people but yeah i did lots of Research George phase on famous choreographer put me once he found out i get dance he locked me in the studio and said youre not leaving and so all this air in the back of your neck the Never Never Never i want you to sweat i want you to work you can do this and so i did everything but the somersault. But the somersaults i think i did myself so you know working on the studio working with the singer who sang going and singing my instincts with her and then not so 2 months in america it West Hollywood right there on their stairs with that dance and then 2 months into the past 2 or 3 months into the past and yeah its worked my to shop i mustve been so throughly free and boy like you said you gotta call shes a legit got to serve bludger cat so you gotta get in there and do that then sing with the stars the youre coming home one of the absent for just to get it right are you kidding me and i am hired someone 40 well we realize and it was just perfect good for you thank you so much to miss and thank our friend who who asked the question. That would that would be mr paulo out there matthew paulo. And lastly and williams asked i know and Williams Vick yes where were your hometown and distil go back there and visit i think your dad played a big part in your chops right my dad was it didnt grow beautiful music. Yet something called the Baton Rouge Community chorus so i grew up in baton rouge louisiana. Still the wind my bag really. Being a southern woman being raised by incredible 7 women informed a lot of miss lady may and how she does things and how she says sets a table and all of that you know that would be a lot of the women in my family you know which. Robert e. Lee high school on the 7th girl 2 and yes so thats where im from and i love my louisiana i love my state you know still to this day you know louisiana new orleans is a cultural mecca for for music could its brought so much to American Culture and just kind of change the face of what we think about music how we hear how we listen how we day ends i fortunately have you know were going to get about the easing is you go down there and its such a like the city a microcosm a whole states like a well levon the walk i really dig it theres been a lot a life lived there and for a place that so you would. Work best of all to start by during that whole use the vibration and do it baby oh you werent ready to go. There yet thats good to talk to you kiddo Lynn Whitfield and you can go over and see your own greenlee learn their last season 5th season on oprahs network o. W. And thats been a guest talking to you and nice to meet you so nice talking to you take care of your south. Lynn whitfield to spend on a lot of happy. By pleasure