After choosing to prioritize motherhood over movies and TV projects, actress Lela Rochon is back in front of the camera, where the beauty belongs.
In case you missed it, Rochon was a guest on Sherri Shepherd’s talk show where she promoted her new series, The Family Business: New Orleans in which she produces and stars. But before diving into the new show, Shepherd asked her about a classic project, Waiting to Exhale, which turns 30 years old in 2025. When asked about the possibility of a sequel, the actress said that one was in the works until Whitney Houston, who played Savannah, passed away in 2012.
“We were going to, but unfortunately Whitney passed, and then Fox has the rights, and they were going to do it,” she said, before sharing the direction she felt the project should go, with a focus on the kids the characters would have had. “I thought it should be about our children. And then we sort of move in and out, because the daughter I would have had in the movie would be 30 now.” Upon noting that the film was done 30 years ago, Rochon decided to send a message to haters who’ve had things to say about the way she looks now compared to all the way back then. “So all y’all that be saying, ‘She don’t look the same,’ don’t expect me to look the same!” she said. “It’s been 30 years.”
For a few years now, people have had things to say about her looks as she’s gotten older, but she’s been stepping out confidently, including on her poppin’ Instagram account, looking a fierce and fabulous 60. When asked about some recent glam shots of the beauty, Rochon joked, “You gotta give the haters something to hate about sometimes.”
As noted, Rochon took a step back from her busy career after marrying director Antoine Fuqua and starting a family. They have two children, Asia and Brando, college students at USC, and Fuqua has a son named Zachary from a previous relationship. When asked about her decision to prioritize parenthood, she said it was a no-brainer.
“It was actually an easy choice because I struggled to get pregnant, I struggled to carry a baby so once that happened, I didn’t want to miss anything,” she said. “They’re my best production.”
And as she stated in a chat with American Urban Radio Networks at ESSENCE Festival of Culture last summer, taking that break was the best decision she could have made. But now, she’s ready to get back out there and get to work.
“You can do it all but not at once. I was one of those people that I could do it all, but I didn’t really want to do it all at once. I chose not to do it all at once,” she said. “I wanted to have my children, I wanted to raise my children, I wanted to be there for them. I kept one foot in the door and one foot out of the door of entertainment. And when I was ready to do more, I’m here now. I’m outside, I’m doing more.”
