Amber Stevens West On 'Run The World': 'We Are Doing A Comedy Starring Four Black Women Living Successfully'
(CBS Local)-- Los Angeles native Amber Stevens West has been a big name in Hollywood ever since she played Ashleigh Howard on ABC Family's "Greek" and the Beverly Hills High School alum is now the star of one of the most popular new shows on TV in Starz's "Run The World."
The series is based off the life of creator Leigh Davenport and follows four successful Black women living in Harlem, New York as they strive for world domination. CBS Local's DJ Sixsmith recently caught up with Stevens West to discuss "Run the World," the representation of Black women on television and some memories from her time on "Greek" and working with Jonah Hill and Ice Cube in "22 Jump Street."
"What was exciting about getting this project is that is was new content for me," said Stevens West. "All of the stuff I have been doing is light-hearted comedy and very network TV kind of stuff, which has been really fun. When I was approached to do something with Starz, I knew this was going to be adult content. I was excited about that and I realized through the process that this experience was so validating for me on a personal level. We are doing a comedy starring four Black women in Harlem living successfully. I guess I never really saw myself in that role. It made me anxious to get jobs like that for some reason because I didn't think I was Black enough to be a character who lives in Harlem. They approached me and thought I would be a great Whitney on this show. My Black experience is still a Black experience no matter if it looks like the characters I've seen on TV in the past."
In addition to "Run the World," Stevens West was also the star of "Happy Together," which aired for one season on CBS. The actor got the chance to meet Leigh Davenport's real friends who inspired the "Run The World" and Stevens West says that really helped in her preparation. While she has been doing this acting thing for a minute now, "Greek" was the first show that put Stevens West on the map.
"I was so young and naïve about what being on a TV show was," said Stevens West. "I grew up in Los Angeles and my dad was on sitcoms on television when I was a kid. I marginally knew what it was like. I got the job on Greek and it was a pilot and I didn't really know what that meant. Everything was in incremental steps for me, but that is what I think made it so special and exciting. I didn't have these lofty expectations of what the show would be. I was just very present in it. I remember getting the pilot for Greek and my best friend came over and I was living at my parents' house still. She came over and sat on my bed and read through the whole script together and we were like this show is good."
