The 'Everybody Hates Chris' actress stars opposite Laila Odom in the Mario Van Peebles-directed biopic that chronicles Cheryl James and Sandra Denton's rise in the hip-hop industry in the late 1980s.
- January 26, 2021
AceShowbiz - Actress GG Townson was sure she had botched her chances at starring in the Salt-N-Pepa biopic after messing up the words to the rap icons' "Shoop" hit during her audition.
The "Everybody Hates Chris" star portrays Cheryl 'Salt' James, opposite "The Young and the Restless" actress Laila Odom as Sandra 'Pepa' Denton in the TV film, which was a dream project for her manager.
"When I first got the call, my manager, he had emailed me and was like, 'Listen, they're doing a Salt-N-Pepa project, and I need you to book this for me, because I love them,' " Townson recalled to the New York Post's Page Six.
"Of course I knew who they were, but in... 1995, I was four, so my knowledge of them didn't happen until I got older, but my experience with them wasn't the same, compared to someone who grew up listening to them, so when he hit me with the opportunity, I was like, 'OK, dope!' "
However, Townson was convinced she wouldn't be getting a call back after slipping up on her song lyrics during her try out.
"My first audition, I messed up. I rapped... Salt's first verse of 'Shoop' and I fumbled that verse something crazy!" she confessed.
"But the casting director, Leah Daniels Butler, she knows the songs so she started rapping along with me, and I got back on track, but in my mind I was like, 'They want someone who is not gonna mess up, is word perfect, can come in and do the lines and do all of that,' so after I took my epic rap fail, I was like, 'Alright, well, onto the next!' "
"I walked out the room like, 'Well, I guess I'm not getting a call back,' then I just released it, I wasn't mad at myself... and it ended up coming back to me."
The film, simply titled "Salt-N-Pepa", was directed by Mario Van Peebles and premiered on Saturday (January 23).
It chronicled the stars' rise in the hip-hop industry in the late 1980s as they established themselves as one of the first all-female rap groups, while it also took viewers behind the scenes to examine the ups and downs of the musicians' relationship.
James and Denton served as executive producers on the film, alongside Queen Latifah.
