WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA – AUGUST 18: Actress Essence Atkins attends the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus and Note 5 Launch party on August 18, 2015 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Essence Atkins, the beautiful actress who played in TV shows like Smart Guy, Half & Half, and even The Cosby Show found another hit in the now syndicated show, Are We There Yet? Atkins, who played mother Suzanne Kingston-Persons on the show, is a mom herself. And being a mom in Hollywood is something that Essence had to get used to: auditions, interviews, mommy duties and pretty much doing it all.
Now, at the age of 51, Essence is still growing and glowing. So many people are asking her secret. Here secret, she says, it’s so secret at all.
“Part of what I understand has contributed to the longevity of my career is how I “show up,” writes Essence on her Instagram. “I have taken inventory specifically of the last 20 years of being an actress and a lot of my work within this time frame could be classified as ‘repeat business.’ Meaning, I have been blessed to be invited back to collaborate with the same producers, directors, and creators frequently.”
“I don’t presume it’s just because of my artistry as a storyteller but I believe, even more importantly, it’s the spirit I find paramount to bring with me to the environment. A spirit of gratitude and collaboration preparedness and professionalism. There is a plethora of hefty amazing talent available in this business don’t squander opportunity or inhibit someone else’s by infecting the atmosphere with behavior that isn’t ‘fruitful.’
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When it comes to her skin, the recipe is even simpler:
“Most days, when I am not at work, I don’t wear any makeup at all,” confesses Atkins. “However, when an occasion beacons and I decide to do my own face (instead of using a makeup artist) I don’t contour, use foundation or powder.”
With all that she has going on from scripts to auditions to being a mom, she still makes time for her community.
Volunteering for the Greater Than AIDS campaign, Atkins admitted that labor would have been the only thing to keep her out of the studio that day. “As I begin my own journey to become a mother, I recognize that the community is so important, and making sure that we look out for each other,” said the A Haunted House movie star.
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Atkins then reflected on a 13-year-old honor student who had recently been denied admission to the Milton Hershey School in Pennsylvania because he was HIV positive. According to the school, the young boy was a “direct threat” to the other students. “These are the kinds of things that are happening 20 years after Ryan White that drive me to be a part of this,” said Atkins.
Having started her career as a ballet dancer in New York, and growing up in the 1980s, when AIDS took a devastating toll on the arts community, Atkins is encouraged by the progress being made in science and medicine. “We just have to know our status first of all and seek access to the proper treatment,” she said. “The thing that keeps African Americans from empowering ourselves is ignorance; the things that keep us from eradicating this disease and stopping people from spreading this disease are ignorance and fear.”
Besides eradicating HIV, Essence makes time to keep her body healthy as well. As we all know, exercise isn’t just good for the body, it’s also beneficial to your emotional and mental health. For Atkins, she tries to start each day with a good workout.
“The mornings are times when I like to just stretch, meditate and then go for my cardio,” she explains. “It’s great time for me to think about my day and plan a strategy for the task that is at hand. I run. Running isn’t really about the exercise for me, it’s more about the release — although it, of course, has the added benefit of being a calorie burner! When I run or jump rope — another thing I like to do in the morning — the consistency helps me get in a place where I can get my mind focused.”
Keeping her body and health is important since the star is now recently single after a divorce from seven years of marriage.
Because Atkins’ marriage seemed to be like a fairy tale with a happy ending, it was quite a shock when she shared the news.
“I am going to be entering the dating world after nearly a decade,” Atkins said. “I’m in the process of getting a divorce, sadly. It’s weird because literally, three weeks after filing, I got this job where I’m playing a newly divorced woman who’s co-parenting with her ex that she still loves, but they’ve somehow realized that they’re not meant to partner together anymore. It was kind of this weird, amazing moment the universe was like, here’s art imitating life and we’re going to talk about this and you’re going to explore it in a really humorous way.”
The actress married her ex-husband Jaime Mendez in September 2009 after meeting on Valentine’s Day in 2008 through Match.com (yes, the online dating site). The pair have a 4-year-old son together named Varro. As for dating? Atkins reveals she has some days when she thinks she’s ready to search for love again, then other days is far too intimidated by changes to traditional dating rules to jump back in. “I feel like ‘Oh yeah, I’m ready!’ And then I’m like, ‘Oh no, I’m not!’” she said. “I’ve turned 40 since I’ve dated. I don’t know, people don’t talk anymore, they text. They only call if it’s a dire emergency. I have no idea how to go about it.”
Atkins was a Hollywood newbie, and single, when she first became involved as an HIV/AIDS ambassador nearly a decade ago, making her among the first celebrities to heed the call to action to spread the word among African Americans about the importance of testing and treatment. And although juggling the demands of motherhood and her career, she has vowed to remain vigilant — which includes appearing in a series of PSAs that she shot later the same afternoon of the interview. “The longer we’re silent, the more people die. I don’t have that luxury,” she said. “We don’t have that luxury.”
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