cress: Oh, wow. Okay, let me think, here. [pause] Well I’m going to go back to one of my childhood favorites—it’s a very little, little known movie called Bugsy Malone. The entire cast— and I think this is why I loved it as a child, [especially] as the child who wanted to act—the entire cast is nothing but kids. It’s like a young Jodie Foster, a young Scott Baio—there’s not an adult in the cast, but they all play adults. It’s supposed to be [set] in the 1930s or 40s. They’re like gangsters, but they have these little Tommy guns and machine guns that shoot marshmallows; and they drive these cars that they peddle; and it’s a musical, on top of that. I have the poster and I have the movie so, yeah, that never gets old.
shannon: If you had to choose one meal to eat every single day, what would it be? cress: If it’s good, I’m a sucker for pizza. But it’s got to be good pizza, not something like Domino’s—no disrespect to Domino’s, but not like fast food pizza... I think nine times out of ten, I’m usually more of a New York style, but a really good Chicago style—I could feel that too. And any good meal, for me, always has to end with some ice cream. shannon: What flavor? cress: It would probably be butter pecan ice cream.
shannon: What’s the last show that you binge-watched? shannon: All right, what’s your favorite sports team? cress: Well I have three kids so we’re extremely behind, but actually, the last thing we just finished this weekend—we bingewatched Season Two of Stranger Things... My wife and I watched Season One, way back when it came out, and my daughter—we didn’t feel like she was old enough to watch it, at that time. But recently, [my wife] was like, “Yeah, she’s old enough to watch it, now.” So, a couple of weeks ago, we rewatched it, and rebinged Season One with her. Then, we finally binge-watched Season Two. shannon: What’s the last album you listened to?
shannon: Yeah, funny enough, I almost asked your favorite song, but I was like, “No, let’s do an album, because that’s a little more intimate of an experience.” cress: Yes, actually it’s easier, too, because favorite songs— that’s always hard for me. Like favorite songs, favorite movies— there are just too many of them... and it depends on the mood I’m in. shannon: Gotcha. So what are some of your favorite travel destinations and why? cress: Right now, I would say—just Southern California, period, because we miss home, badly. But I also love New York. I love the energy of New York, but for a short period of time, because I am a West Coast person, so I realize I’m extremely laid back and I love space... I love the energy of New York initially, then eventually I get tired and I’m like, “I gotta go.” I also love the beach. My wife and I—we got married on the Island of Kauai and we always refer to it as our happy place. We have a sound machine so we can listen to the waves when we go to bed. So honestly, any beach is definitely my happy place. And we haven’t been able to, but we used to take a trip, once a year, to Mammoth Mountain in California. It was just a nice kind of fishing trip—so that’s another one of my destinations.
shannon: Have you seen Lebron [James] play for them, recently? How do you feel about him coming to LA? cress: If he wins, if he wins, I’ll be all right. Because I’m all about the purple and gold, so if you bring wins, I don’t care who you are. I also love—I call them the Anaheim Angels. I know that people call them the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim—but no, they’re the Anaheim Angels. And the LA Rams. shannon: Yeah, the Rams are pretty good, this season. cress: They are, they are. I’m excited. I just believe that you adopt the teams that you grew up on, you know, your hometown teams—and so those are my hometown teams. shannon: Okay, last one. Tell us an interesting fact about yourself that most people would be surprised to know. cress: Ooh! Fun fact? I’m so boring. [Laughs] Oh man, let me think about this. [Pause] I haven’t done it in a while, but I was a big, big karaoke fan. shannon: Oh, karaoke? I’m definitely surprised at that! cress: Yeah, it sounds weird, I know. My wife, she got me into it. She was going literally every Monday night, for years. And one night, one of my best friends and I, we saw her—we were supporting a friend [who was] doing this musical venue, and the night ended early and she was like “I’m going to karaoke.” And we were like, “Oh, okay. Yeah, we’ll go, too.” I went honestly because I liked her and I wanted to spend more time with her— but then I just became a huge karaoke fan. But the kids have kind of put a wrinkle in that, so we haven’t been able to go very much. shannon: Well all right, Karaoke Cress! cress: [Laughs] Yeah, you can call me Karaoke Cress. That’s good, I like it!
Photographer: Porsha Antalan, Talent: Cress Williams, Grooming: Cherie Cook, Styling: Carter @ Christopher Jamar Payne, Videographer: Eliot J.
cress: God, it’s so funny because, now, we don’t listen to albums much anymore—we just stream music. I think one of the last ones had to be—I know it was a Michael Franti, Spearhead album, an old album. It might have been Home—yeah, I think it was called Home. ‘Cause I started getting into this thing where I was like, “I want to listen to a whole album again!” [laughs]
cress: The Los Angeles Lakers—I’m a purple and gold, till the day I die.