Thursday, December 8, 2011

Kel Mitchell of 'Kenan & Kel' Interview

Kel Mitchell is a name synonymous with 90s pop culture, whether it was his unforgettable roles in Nickelodeon classic comedy shows like "All That" or "Kenan & Kel," to his movie roles in "Goodburger" and "Mystery Men.

"Fans and orange soda lovers all over the world have been wondering what Kel is doing with himself, and Broken Records has the scoop on everything from new projects, directing, rapping to his love for Jesus Christ.

When asked "What it was like being such a huge star in Hollywood?," Kel talked about being just a regular kid from the south side of Chicago and having it be "a surreal and humbling experience."

Even now, he said he will sign every autograph and reminisce with fans on the characters he has played because without the fans he would be nothing.


Growing up a child of the 80s and early 90s had a profound effect on the actor as well as allowing him to pick up his skills from other funny people. "Muppets, Martin Lawrence, In Living Color, and the Wayans Bro's definitely played a part in what I do."


Kel reminisced with The Christian Post on his favorite moments on "All That" and said his favorite character was Coach Kredmin. "Coach Kredmin, I would go over the top as much as possible. Always different and insane. He was my favorite."


As for his favorite moment on the show, he recalled a particular skit where he had to make a milkshake for Kenan's character, "One of the funniest is when Kenan's character, playing a construction worker. I had to make him a milkshake and I actually made it with a burger. We kept laughing and we broke the fourth wall."


Kel was asked about his real persona as compared to the one he played in "Kenan & Kel" a goofy situational character. He said he is a little like both characters, "A little bit of both, I'm definitely a leader. Just going after my dreams and motivated to do something, nobody can stop me," referring to Kenan on the show and referring to Kel's character, "Kel looked at the brightside of everything, that's me as well."


He said he remains close friends with Kenan and that a reunion show is definitely possible. "I'm on the west and he's on the east, it's been awhile since I've seen him, so we definitely have to do something together. I would be interested in doing something, probably like a cop film," he said. "I'm more into film, and putting out my films, but I'd definitely be interested in sketch comedy," when asked if he'd do "SNL" like Kenan.


"I'm interested in doing a "Kenan & Kel" reunion, you just have to talk to Kenan about it first."


Teen Nick started airing "The 90s Are All That" this summer, taking some of the classic shows from Nick's prime and running them starting at midnight so the early to mid 20's crowd can watch their old shows again.


Kel was really excited about it and glad the fans got what they wanted. “Fans were always talking about it online saying they wanted to see re-runs of shows. I guess the people won," he said.


In honor of the block of programming and his pop culture love of orange soda from "Kenan & Kel," he created "The All Orange Everything Tour."





For the tour Kel traveled city to city in a big bus and held orange soda parties and contests. Guest are required to wear orange, the ladies have an orange fashion show, the men have orange soda drinking contests, and the whole night features 90s music.


Setting himself up for the next question, CP asked Kel if he really did love orange soda. He responded, "The funny thing is, I actually liked to drink orange soda when I was younger as well. Drinking it on the show was great, I'm glad it wasn't a vegetable drink...but definitely drink your vegetables kids, I know I do."


"Everywhere I go people talk about it, in a question and answer session, someone asked me, 'Hey Kel, do you still love orange soda?'"





As of right now Kel is working on a few projects.


He currently is doing voice work for two cartoons airing in 2012: "Wild Grinders" on Nicktoons, and "Motor City" on DisneyXD.


The first show has Kel voicing a skateboarder, while the second is about cars and takes place in the year 3000 in Detroit. He said the cars are a cross between "Terminator" and "Fast and the Furious." This show is coming out in December.


He said he enjoys voice acting and likes the feeling of getting something accomplished quickly, and said many celebrities are involved and not many people know about it.


"Voice acting is a whole different type of world. I really enjoy it, you can wake up and do it in your pajamas. It's very laid back," he said. "You really have to articulate and pull that voice to make it interesting to the ear."


Kel is also deeply into music, and has recorded a number of songs for his movies, like his song for "Mystery Men," as well as other side projects. 


"I would perform on 'All That.' Back in the first season, I was in a group called After Maft (Mind Over Future Thought). We performed the first season, and the season before I left. I always try to do some type of music, I usually write for the soundtrack or prepare some type of music. Still dabbling," he said.


Perhaps his biggest project and one he is most proud of is, "Dance Fu." He wrote the film, directed, and starred in it. The story is about a guy who can only fight when music is playing.


Kel said growing up he loved dance and karate movies, and wanted to mix the genres. The movie stars: Kel, Cedric the Entertainer, Tommy Davidson, and Affion Crockett.


"We had a blast, it was like going to a family reunion," he said of the experience.





The actor said some other skills that he has include: writing screenplays, poetry, rapping, directing music videos, and being active in his church as well as working on a book.


Kel was asked whether he felt typecast as an actor because of his previous work, to which he said, "There was definitely a thought of type casting. I like to dabble with all types of entertainment as far as, drama, action, sci-fi- my resume shows I tried many different things, projects and genres," said Kel. 


"I Don't like to put my creativity in a box, and I didn't want to keep doing the same thing over and over again."


Lastly, Kel wants everyone to know how important Jesus is in his life. Every Youtube video he puts out features a Bible verse at the end and is meant to inspire and provoke thought.


One particular verse of importance to him is Ephesians 5:10, "It means a lot to me. You have to have God in your heart. You have to keep to keep going. You have to give him thanks for everything. I put the verses in my videos because I have to remember myself."





Check out Kelmitchell.net to be updated on all of Kel’s projects, ministry work, and tours.


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