Larenz Tate On Why Sleeping In Separate Bedrooms Is A Must In His Marriage
Rom-coms are cool and all, but black love hit different when you see it happen in real life, and the fictional romance portrayed in Love Jones doesn't hold a candle to the real-life love story between Larenz Tate and his wife Tomasina Parrott. The couple, who will celebrate 13 years of marriage in November, parent four children together and say that today, their love has just as much passion as the day they met.
Larenz recently sat down with the hosts of The Breakfast Club and explained that after more than a decade, their romance in their relationship is so lit that they have to sleep in separate bedrooms at night:
"There's a lot of stress in the world. I go home, I gotta stay away from my wife. I can't look at her too long. The loins are tender, she's very fertile, and I just try to stay away from her man. I sleep in a different room. When it's time for me to get a little somethin-somethin, she turns up pregnant, all the time."
Larenz explained that while they dated for six years before officially marrying, the connection was instant.
"When I met my wife, I felt like this was a good thing. We dated for a while. We dated for six years before we actually got married. She needed to know if she really wanted to rock with me [and] all my craziness. I was like 'You still want to rock me? You know what I like, I like the ladies.' And she was like 'Look man, get your mind right.'"
The 44-year-old actor shared that along with patience, transparency has been an extremely important part of maintaining the magic in their marriage.
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"The great thing about us is the compatibility, which is really, really important. And the honesty, and just being upfront. In our relationship, it's important for us to create what we want to create, as opposed to what everybody else is creating in their households and their relationship."
While Larenz has had a great example of what melaniny matrimony looks like firsthand from his parents, who have been happily married for decades, he and his wife try their hardest to create a foundation for their relationship based on their own experiences:
"We take the best parts of relationships that we've seen and we try to incorporate it into our own. But our walk is not going to be anyone else's walk. This is our thing. It's not always easy obviously, being in the entertainment industry. There are a lot of pitfalls that are always around, and you have to have a sense of self and understanding the value of who you are and what you have."
While the pressures of Hollywood may be tempting, Larenz says he has everything he needs at home.
"There's always enticing things around you. None of us are perfect. My wife is my best friend and she understands that. We rockin."
Watch the full interview below!
Larenz Tate Talks 'Power' Conflicts, Healthy Lifestyle, Supporting Blackness + Morewww.youtube.com
Featured image by Getty Images.
Taylor "Pretty" Honore is a spiritually centered and equally provocative rapper from Baton Rouge, Louisiana with a love for people and storytelling. You can probably find me planting herbs in your local community garden, blasting "Back That Thang Up" from my mini speaker. Let's get to know each other: @prettyhonore.
ItGirl 100 Honors Black Women Who Create Culture & Put On For Their Cities
As they say, create the change you want to see in this world, besties. That’s why xoNecole linked up with Hyundai for the inaugural ItGirl 100 List, a celebration of 100 Genzennial women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table. Across regions and industries, these women embody the essence of discovering self-value through purpose, honey! They're fierce, they’re ultra-creative, and we know they make their cities proud.
VIEW THE FULL ITGIRL 100 LIST HERE.
Don’t forget to also check out the ItGirl Directory, featuring 50 Black-woman-owned marketing and branding agencies, photographers and videographers, publicists, and more.
THE ITGIRL MEMO
I. An ItGirl puts on for her city and masters her self-worth through purpose.
II. An ItGirl celebrates all the things that make her unique.
III. An ItGirl empowers others to become the best versions of themselves.
IV. An ItGirl leads by example, inspiring others through her actions and integrity.
V. An ItGirl paves the way for authenticity and diversity in all aspects of life.
VI. An ItGirl uses the power of her voice to advocate for positive change in the world.
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You've Never Seen Luke James In A Role Quite Like This
Over the years, we've watched Luke James play countless characters we'd deem sex symbols, movie stars, and even his complicated character in Lena Waithe's The Chi. For the first time in his career, the New Orleans-born actor has taken on a role where his signature good looks take a backseat as he transforms into Edmund in Them: The Scare—a mentally deranged character in the second installment of the horror anthology series that you won't be able to take your eyes off.
Trust us, Edmund will literally make you do a double take.
xoNecole sat down with Luke James to talk about his latest series and all the complexity surrounding it—from the challenges taking on this out-of-the-box role to the show's depiction of the perplexing history of the relationship between Black Americans and police. When describing the opportunity to bring Edmund's character to life, Luke was overjoyed to show the audience yet another level of his masterful acting talents.
"It was like bathing in the sun," he said. "I was like, thank you! Another opportunity for me to be great—for me to expand my territory. I'm just elated to be a part of it and to see myself in a different light, something I didn't think I could do." He continued, "There are parts of you that says, 'Go for it because this is what you do.' But then also that's why it's a challenge because you're like, 'um, I don't know if I'm as free as I need to be to be able to do this.' Little Marvin just created such a safe space for me to be able to do this, and I'm grateful for everything I've been able to do to lead to this."
Courtesy
Them: The Scare, like the first season, shines a light on the plight of Black Americans in the United States. This time, the story is taking place in the 1990s, at the height of the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles. While the series presents many underlying themes, one that stands out is Black people and the complicated relationship with the police. "For the audience, I think it sets the tone for the era that we're in and the amount of chaos that's in the air in Los Angeles and around the country from this heinous incident. And I say it just sets the tone of the anxiety and anxiousness that everybody is feeling in their own households."
James has been a longtime advocate against police brutality himself. He has even featured Elijah McClain, the 23-year-old Colorado man who died after being forcibly detained by officers, as his Instagram avatar for the past five years. So, as you can imagine, this script was close to his heart. "Elijah was a soft-loving oddball. Different than anyone but loving and a musical genius. He was just open and wanted to be loved and seen."
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Luke continued, "His life was taken from him. I resonate with his spirit and his words...through all the struggle and the pain he still found it in him to say, 'I love you and I forgive you.' And that's who we are as people—to our own detriment sometimes. He's someone I don't want people to forget. I have yet to remove his face from my world because I have yet to let go of his voice, let go of that being [because] there's so many people we have lost in our history that so often get forgotten."
He concluded, "I think that's the importance of such artwork that moves us to think and talk about it. Yes, it's entertaining. We get to come together and be spooked together. But then we come together and we think, 'Damn, Edmund needed someone to talk to. Edmund needed help... a lot [of] things could have been different. Edmund could have been saved.'
Check out the full interview below.
Luke James Talks Ditching Sex Symbol Status For "Them: The Scare", Elijah McClain, & Morewww.youtube.com
Featured image by Getty Images