VIDEO EXCLUSIVE

Comedienne Anjelah Johnson-Reyes is cooking up some chile verde flavored with a dash of memories. Her episode on Made From Scratch, the unscripted weekly series from FUSE that features artists as they cook their favorite childhood dishes with family members who helped them rise to prominence, airs on Jan. 5 on FUSE.

Born in San Jose, California Johnson-Reyes went from being an Oakland Raiders cheerleader and performing at Super Bowl XXXVII to deciding acting was her calling. 

Johnson-Reyes moved to Los Angeles and took matters into her own hands to get her career rolling. She created a character for her stand-up of a Vietnamese nail salon employee. The YouTube video went viral thereby essentially making a career for herself. Afterward, she joined the cast of MADtv and created the character of Bon Qui Qui, a disgruntled short-tempered, sassy fast-food employee turned rapper. She then landed the Comedy Central special Anjelah Johnson: That’s How We Do It in 2009; the 2013 Anjelah Johnson-Reyes: The Homecoming Show and the 2015 Anjelah Johnson-Reyes: Not Fancy Netflix specials.

And now she is cooking up something in the kitchen. In an exclusive from FUSE, we present a clip from Made From Scratch, where Johnson-Reyes and her cousin tease the audience with a tasty-looking chile verde from their grandmother’s recipe—with a side of family memories…and yes, rice and beans.

Made From Scratch is the appetizing weekly series that serves up a candid look into the lives of our favorite artists as they prepare their most-loved childhood dishes with the family who knows them best.  

But Johnson-Reyes’ skills outside the kitchen are many as her list of credits prove. A few years back she landed a record deal with Warner Bros. to record the “Gold Plated Dreams,” a comedy album based on her character of Bon Qui Qui. After that successful release, she recorded a music album titled “Merry Hoodmas.”  

On television, she has guest-starred in hit shows like Superstore, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Ugly Betty, and is also a sought after voice talent.

She will be starring along with Cedric The Entertainer, Jimmy Oh Yang, and a long list of some of the funniest comedians in The Opening Act, a film that was to come out in 2020 but because of the pandemic is still looking for a release in 2021.

Featured Photo: Anjelah Johnson-Reyes

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On Sunday, March 4 — the evening of the Oscars — Fuse will broadcast its commercial-free premiere of Dear White People at 8:00 pm ET/PT. Throughout the broadcast, Fuse will air redubbed interstitials featuring footage from the 1950 classic film, Cyrano de Bergerac starring José Ferrer, the last and only Latino actor to be honored with an Academy Award for Best Actor 68 years ago. The remixed footage will call attention to the lack of Latino representation and provide thought-provoking commentary on inclusion in entertainment.

“It is painfully obvious, that with rare exception, the contributions of the Latino community are significantly underrepresented by the film and television community,” said Fuse Media Senior Vice President, Content Distribution and Marketing Judi Lopez.  “Media should be a mirror that reflects our culture and our country’s increasingly diverse population.”

As part of the initiative, Fuse will roll out original short form content centered around the importance of representation in media. Fuse’s digital and social platforms will further support the initiative with editorial coverage designed to spark conversation, including a quiz on the under-representation of Latinos in the entertainment industry.  Fuse will also use its social media platforms to enlist fans to call out the best performances by actors, writers, directors and producers of color.

 “We applaud Fuse for standing up for the Latino community, by helping us drive awareness for this incredible inequity in representation,” said Alex Nogales, President, National Hispanic Media Coalition.  “More media companies need to take notice and need to follow the example.”

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