Black Celebrity Men

True Blood star Mehcad Brooks (according to Essence, Mehcad’s mother derived his name from the ancient Ethiopian word meaning “prophet” or “wise one.” Mehcad says: “Little did she know that I’d make a profit off being a wise ass.”) recently opened up to Honey magazine about everything from his reluctance to being a sex symbol, why he won't get married until gays gain the right to marry and why he chooses to focus on his career instead of focusing on finding a wife.

MEHCAD ON GAY RIGHTS & WHY HE WON'T MARRY UNTIL THEY CAN: "I haven’t even gotten that far (thinking about settling down). But yeah, I want a wife, I want kids. The whole thing. But I’m also not even concerned with marrying somebody until it’s legal for everybody to get married. And what I mean by that is the whole Prop 8 thing. I find it really offensive. I just find it really problematic when you start throwing people’s rights away. Until we get our gay brothers and sisters back into a realm of consciousness that everyone else is in, it’s just not right. A woman who’s getting married — it’s probably going to be a gay man who made her dress, and a gay man who’s doing her hair and makeup, but he can’t get married. How messed up is that?"

MEHCAD ON BEING A SEX SYMBOL: “I mean, it’s just a strange thing to claim. I can own the fact that I’m a good actor, because I work really hard at it. I can own the fact that I’m athletic because I work really hard at it. I can own the fact that I have a lot of stamina and I have lot of strength because I work really hard at that. But one person may find me sexy, and another might not find me sexy. That’s all subjective, an opinion. I can’t go around proclaiming that I know other people’s opinions about me. Plus, I see myself everyday, and I see everything that’s wrong. I don’t see everything that’s right, most of the time. It’s all relative. Sometimes I’m running and working out and sometimes I’m just trying to chill, stomach hanging out, chilling. The thing is I don’t really consider myself a sex symbol, because I don’t find myself sexy.”

In the interview, Mehcad also revealed that he loves women. He finds a lot of women very nurturing and good listeners. And the reason why it was really easy for him to end simply going into one relationship after another is because he has a lot of female friends. And lately, he’s been trying to focus on his career and finding the right woman is not his paramount concern right now. He says, “I’ve been trying to focus on other things, like on my career. And just focus on who I am as a human being without being wrapped up in relationships. Finding the one is not my top priority right now.”

MEHCAD'S IDEAL WOMAN: “I really like an attentive listener. And support. And a woman who has her own, who can support herself and feel secure in her own skin. I complement her and she complements me.”

Look for Mehcad on the the big screen in the upcoming Fence Walker and Just Wright, which stars Queen Latifah.
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Lamman Rucker sat down with Essence.com in June to talk about his role as 'Will' on Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns sitcom as well as his character 'Sheriff Troy' on Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too. And as usual, he was asked about the status of his personal life...which he happily answered. So unless his relationship status has changed in the last four months, chances are you die-hard fans will be satisfied with his answer.

ESSENCE.COM: What do you have in common with your married doctor character Will?
LAMMAN RUCKER: A lot of things. He is the first in [the Brown family] to have an advanced degree. I know what a challenge that can be and the dynamic of being one of the people in your family who has had the privilege to go off to school. He's really down to earth, has a great sense of humor and is very giving and supportive in his relationships. All of that I can relate to.

ESSENCE.COM: You're reuniting with the cast for the sequel to Why Did I Get Married? as Sheriff Troy. What can fans expect from you this time?
RUCKER: I've seen a draft of the script and everyone is going to love this one! We're filming this summer and it is a very interesting snapshot into marriage. The whole cast is returning and the film takes place a couple years down the line. When it comes to marriage and relationships, there is always a new adventure. Sheriff Troy will show an interesting side of himself and people will see his layers. Why Did I Get Married? did so well because it gave some real perspective on the realities of love.

ESSENCE.COM: Does playing these married men have this Do Right Man ready to settle down?
RUCKER: (Laughs.) I'm taking my time on all of that and the application process is still open. When I am ready it will take a woman who knows who she is. Many women are so wounded that they can't love another person. I need a woman who is secure and loves herself first. Then she can share that love and light with me.

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I definitely want to get married, but not anytime soon. I would not want to spend the rest of my life by myself. When you find the woman you want to spend the rest of your life with, you solidify it. I'm the type of guy who wants everyone to know, "it's mine." At the moment, I'm single. Doing this thing by myself gets a little hard, but it's coming. Watching Cory and Tia (Mowry)'s wedding, I really got to see how much this wedding meant to Tia. Tia just loved this guy so much that she wanted everybody close to her to see and experience this fairy tale under God and share in her day.

--Actor Hosea Chanchez on love and marriage.

Here's an old photoshoot (I think it's from a 2008 issue of Smooth magazine). I've had it saved on a flash drive forever and what better time to post it than now?

CLICK ON EACH PICTURE TO SEE ITS FULL IMAGE.

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Laz Alonso. Many of you may remember him from his roles in movies like G, Stomp the Yard, This Christmas (I hated him in that movie! But that's a good thing though!) or Miracle at St. Anna. I remember him from my days as a morning news producer here in Tallahassee and in Jacksonville. When my co-workers has the televisions on their desks tuned in to CNN or MSNBC, mine would be tuned in to B.E.T.'s morning show A.M. @ B.E.T. I needed my early morning eye candy and he fit the bill and then some. At the time, I had no idea he was a Howard graduate and held a lucrative position as an investment banker at Merill Lynch on Wall Street; and I definitely didn't think I'd ever see him years later in hit movies.

Since this is BlackCelebrityMen.blogspot.com and since Laz is without a doubt a BlackCelebrityMan, I had to look out for my readers and get the goods on his personal life and what he looks in a potential wifey, right? Well, ladies, although he isn't married, he is in a relationship right now according to his updated Myspace page. Last fall in his Jewel magazine interview he spoke about marriage and said, 'I'm definitely looking to be married. I don't really have a time frame, but I'd like to do it fairly soon so I'm not that old dude who always gets complimented on his grandson.' Bless his heart. He's also an only child who 'grew up surrounded by strong women' including his mother, grandmother and aunts, he says. 'So that's the type I'm usually attracted to. She has to be self-confident and hold her head high. You feel her energy when she walks in the room, and when she opens her mouth, she's got something to say.' Now, as I perused his Myspace page, I came across a blog entry of his where he lists his personal Top 10 Traits of a Great Girlfriend which I found to be a very entertaining read.

Below are scans from a photo shoot the actor posed for in Jewel magazine. I had to dig waaaaaaaaaaay deep in my old magazine collection for these. Click on each picture to see its full image. Hope you Laz fans enjoy them.

 READ LAZ' TOP 10 TRAITS OF A GOOD GIRLFRIEND WHEN YOU CLICK THE LINK BELOW!