Why Malika Haqq Says Filming ‘ATL’ Was a Culture Shock
There are many famous faces affiliated with the Kardashian family, one of which is Malika Haqq. The BFF of Khloé Kardashian has a career of her own. Her breakout role was in ATL alongside T.I. and Lauren London. But she says filming wasn’t easy, as the environment was a culture shock to her.
The actress showed a different side to her while appearing on the reality series ‘Hollywood Divas’
Haqq is primarily known as a friend to the Kardashian family, and for her role in ATL. She shocked many when she appeared in the ensemble reality series Hollywood Divas in the third season. Viewers took a liking to her and were surprised by how down-to-earth Haqq was.
Even the show’s producer Carlos King was caught off guard by Haqq. Many people of the general public didn’t know that she could thrive in surroundings with other Black women as she’s so closely associated with the elite in Hollywood, many of whom are not Black. While appearing on King’s Reality With the King podcast, Haqq explained the following:
I’m a valley girl, I’m a Black woman. For some reason, that’s shocking – I don’t know why but for some reason, that’s shocking. A lot of the women in my life happen to be similar to me. And I think that what was different was, people were experiencing a different type of Black woman that came from something that really hasn’t been a whole lot of light shined on Black women that didn’t grow up in primarily Black environments, but still come from Black families and households and cultures and all of those things. I mean what did we have? We had Dee from Clueless. But that was Beverly Hills. But there hasn’t been that many depictions of someone who was raised by a teacher and pronunciates all of her words and has a twang.
Malika Haqq explains why filming ‘ATL’ was a culture shock
Haqq explained that she previously thrived more in mixed environments due to her upbringing. With ATL being her breakout role and her being thrust into Atlanta culture, she told King that it was unfamiliar territory. She explained:
“I’ve known my life longer than probably anyone else knew how different I was from everyone else when I went into different arenas or different environments or different states. My sister and I were kind of afraid to say that shooting the movie ATL in Atlanta was a bit of a culture shock for us because we lived in a world where everybody was blended, and nobody was the same. I went into Atlanta, and everybody was Black. So, there were things along my journey that I learned because I was playing a character that was from Atlanta that was great for me, and it opened and expanded my mind.
She further explained that, unfortunately, not everyone is as willing to understand and adjust to her life. “And everybody doesn’t always come into my world. So when they are closed off or don’t understand or think I’m not proud of being Black or that I’m trying to be white or something other than who I am, I think it’s just ignorance,” she said.
She explains why she doesn’t have her own reality show
Aside from Hollywood Divas, Haqq has only appeared on shows alongside the Kardashian family. She says she will only participate in shows where she has a genuine relationship with the cast, and not another ensemble. While she’s not looking for her own show, she’s not closed off to one.
