Marisa Tomei Was Fired Because Executive Opposed Inter-Racial Dating Story

Oscar winner Marisa Tomei acquired her begin on A Completely different World. She was solely on the primary season as Hillman School pupil Maggie Lauton. Issues labored out for Tomei after A Completely different World, however her departure from the Cosby Present spinoff was unceremonious.

L-R: Dawnn Lewis, Lisa Bonet, and Marisa Tomei | NBCU Picture Financial institution

Debbie Allen would produce A Completely different World from season 2 on. In 2006, she joined her forged for a Tv Critics Affiliation panel when the present joined the Nick at Night time lineup. Requested about Tomei’s departure, Allen instructed the reality about how executives froze out the star. 

Debbie Allen made some modifications to ‘A Different World’ in season 2

Allen inherited A Completely different World after a season. The present started in Denise Huxtable (Lisa Bonet)’s freshman yr, however Bonet didn’t return for the second season. Allen added some new characters like Freddie Brooks (Cree Summer time), Kim Reese (Charnele Brown) and Shazza Zulu (Gary Dourdan). She additionally had concepts for current ones. 

“When I took over the show, I wanted to take every character and expand and explore, as well as add new characters,” Allen stated. “That’s when I found Cree, Charnele Brown. I brought in Gary Dordan. Every year we tried to find new faces, and I had great ideas for Marisa Tomei.”

‘A Different World’ Season 2 Marisa Tomei storyline was provocative

Even in 2006, 13 years after A Completely different World ended, Allen remembered the tales she by no means acquired to do with Maggie and Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison). Dwayne and Whitley (Jasmine Man) have been the present’s will they or received’t they, however Allen would have paired Maggie and Dwayne.

“I thought that she and Kadeem, Dwayne Wayne, would be friends,” Allen stated. “We could do an episode where she actually goes home with him for Thanksgiving and it would be Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. And then his momma would not like it, him coming home with a little white girl. And I thought this would be great to show the reverse racism or to show those kind of challenges.”

NBC executives pushed Marisa Tomei out 

Allen remembers the executives’ resistance to her concepts. Not solely didn’t they need Allen to supply that Thanksgiving episode, however they eliminated Tomei from A Completely different World over it. Tomei did a number of motion pictures instantly after however 4 years later got here My Cousin Vinny.

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“Well, they did not like that idea,” Allen recalled. “I thought it was very progressive. I said, ‘How can you have one white character in an all-black dorm and you don’t deal with that? You should deal with it somehow.’ I mean, unless we’re going to add at least three other people, you know, something. So they weren’t inclined to do anything and so it was the executive of the show’s decision to take her off the show because I really was looking forward to having her and doing something with her.” 



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