Terrence J Accepted A Deferred Payment When He Signed On To ‘Think Like A Man,’ Then He Received A $1M Check In The Mail — ‘It Changed My Life’
Terrence J took a big bargain for his breakout role, leading to a significant payday.
The journalist, who became a television host and actor, is among the cast in the Black staple film “Think Like A Man,” released in 2012 and directed by Will Packer. It was inspired by “Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man,” a book released in 2009 by Steve Harvey, who was also cast in the movie alongside Taraji P. Henson, Kevin Hart, Regina Hall, Gabrielle Union, Meagan Good, and more.
Terrence J received wind of the movie while he was in New York working on “106 & Park,” he explained during a sit-down interview with Cam Newton for the “Funky Friday” podcast. Director Packer had called Terrence J for a table read that was taking place in Los Angeles, to replace another individual who backed out. He admittedly called in sick to work in order to fly out for the table read four days later at a Sony lot. Newton also revealed that he did not know what a table read was at the time, so he stayed up all night to memorize all his lines in the script. Ultimately, he landed the role.
“Taraji P. Henson is sitting over here. Meagan Good is right here. Gabrielle Union is right here,” he recalled. “I’m like, ‘What table read is this?’ Like, ‘What is going on?’ I’m thinking it’s like an audition, but everybody is in the room. So I got these shades on. I take my shades off. I’m looking around and everybody starts reading off of the paper, and I just go in and start saying everything like I’m acting in the thing. I’m auditioning in the room. The table read is over. I look over. Kevin Hart is sat. He’s like, ‘Man, I don’t know who you are, but you crushed that. I don’t know you as an actor, but I seen you on TV, but you crushed that.’ And I got the role.”
Why He Did Not Get Paid Money For The Movie Up Front
“I opened up my mailbox one day, and that’s why I always got to give credit to Will [Packer] and Steve Harvey and all those guys. I had a check for a million dollars… I never seen anything like it. I’m from a small town in North Carolina. I grew up between North Carolina and New York. I bounced around. I never seen anything like that. I don’t know any millionaires. I didn’t know anybody. I went to a Black college. I didn’t know what it even was. And so it changed my life,” he expressed.
