Entertainment

AMERICAN BLACK FILM FESTIVAL: Tasha Smith Gives Up Goods, Doing Donna Summer Biopic

by Karu F. Daniels
Filed under: Entertainment Newswire

Tasha Smith really knows how to shake up the scene.

The break-out star of Tyler Perry's latest hit movie 'Why Did I Get Married' held court during the Lincoln Lounge symposium, held last night at Los Angeles Sofitel Hotel, as one of the most prized events during the 2007 American Black Film Festival.

Along with acclaimed casting director Robi Reed, Smith – who is a noted acting coach, in her own right – dished on the ins and outs of Black Hollywood and how to break into it. Veteran BET correspondent Stephanie Frederic moderated the intimate affair, which was decked out with a living room feel.

Smith, who has appeared on Tyra Banks' wildly popular reality series 'America's Next Top Model' and debuted in Perry's overlooked 'Daddy's Little Girls,' pulled no punches as she opened up to the audience about her previous life of stripping and drug hustling in her hometown of Camden, New Jersey.

It was definitely real talk – for real.

Backstage at the event, the tall and statuesque bronze beauty chatted with The BV Newswire about the Donna Summer biopic that she is readying as her next vehicle.

"It's a movie we've been working on and we're excited," she revealed. "We're still in the development stages of it but I will be playing Donna Summer, it's just telling her life story."