Exclusive: Andra Fuller On Returning To ‘True To The Game 2’

Coming out this week from the Imani Media Group is the urban action film the sequel True to the Game 2, directed by Jamal Hill from a script written by Preston A. Whitmore II. Executive produced by Manny Halley Productions and based on Teri Woods’ novel of the same name, the original film was released in 2017. The follow-up will hit select theaters on Friday, November 6th.

Here’s a link to the theaters where the film will play at truetothegame2.com/theaters/

Cast members from the original film coming back are Vivica A. Fox, Andra Fuller, Erica Peeples, Iyana Halley, and Jamaar Simon. New additions are Rotimi, Jeremy Meeks, Niatia ‘Lil Mama’ Kirkland, Faith Evans, Starletta DuPois, Tamar Braxton, Lisa Renee Pitts, Christian James, and Kevin Sizemore, Bernice Burgos, Juliet “Juju” Cee, London on Da Track, Paul Saucido and Waka Flocka Flame.

For Andra Fuller, who reprises his role as Jerrell, the Houston, TX native is starting to be seen more on the big screen. Most of his credits come from the the TV world, where he’s appears in numerous series such as Black and Sexy TV, The L.A. Complex, Roomieloverfriends, The Game, Black Jesus, Here We Go Again, and more recently The Have and the Have Nots. He’s carved out a nice career on the small screen and is not taking his talent for a wider audience.

In speaking with BlackFilmandTV.com, Fuller talks about his role in True To The Game 2 and working with its director, Jamal Hill.

When you first made the movie, did you know ahead of time that there would be a sequel?

Andra Fuller: I did. Only because the movie is actually a series of books. In the series, there's a trilogy. So I fully expected there to be a full story to be told.

For those who have not read the book, does the film from the original to now go according to the book? Or is it changed?

Andra Fuller: The thing about it is a lot of our fans expressed that the first movie wasn't exactly spot on like the first book. But that’s expected when you’re making a book series into a movie. The book has some 300 pages, right? You can't make a movie that's 300 minutes long, not not one film, maybe four series. So you have to condense everything and you have to sensationalize some other things to make it more exciting for the film as opposed to books. We try to make it as close to the books as possible. But as in most cases, it's not going to be exactly like the book, some things happened. Some storylines have to of stray away. I think this the second movie got more on track with the books.

Where are we with you and your character in the second movie without giving so much away?

Andra Fuller: My character has, to the to the best of his knowledge, taken out the competition. He got rid of Quadir. He is on a mission to find the large sum of money that Quadir had left behind. He goes into his whole manipulative Jerrell mode, and goes undercover to infiltrate Gina, so that he can find Quadir 's money.

What is it about the character you're playing that people are drawn to? And how do you relate to the character?

Andra Fuller: I think the biggest thing that the fans are drawn to with my character is how much of a-hole he is. He's the guy that makes your skin crawl. But he's so smooth. He’s almost relatable in the sense of being so aspirational, and so driven towards one goal that he never gives up. It’s almost admirable. So as much as the people hate my character for the things that he's done, especially what he did to Quadir in the first movie, there is a love hate relationship with him. I get it all the time. When I'm on social media, or Instagram Live or something people say, "Oh, I hated you in the first movie, but I love you so much. It was hard to hate you because the way you played the character was hard to hate.” This is actually pretty fun.

How was working with the cast?

Andra Fuller: It's always a good thing when you're working with good actors, like Vivica Fox. In this second movie, we got Lil Mama and we got returning characters from  the first movie like Iyana Halley and Erica peoples. I want to give away too much, but we do have some new characters. Some new characters that were introduced to the second storyline. Jeremy Meeks makes his acting debut and he did a phenomenal job with his character. 

What did you pick up from Jamal hill that helps you out on your next performance coming up?

Andra Fuller: True To The Game 2 was not my first time working with Jamal. He actually cast me in one of his other movies, which also had an all star cast. It's a movie called Deuces and it's on Netflix. I had already knew what to expect, working with Jamal. He is a very inclusive director. He always asked for your opinion, and you can always go to him. Some lines don't really flow well in your mind, or they don't come out as smoothly as as they're supposed to be. He'll just ask you, "well, how would you say that?” That's always a comfort level for actors because you don't want to be married to dialogue that doesn't fit either yourself or the character in some sense. He’s a very inclusive director, very easy to get along with, very down to earth, and fun to be on set. Ironically, the next project that I am working on is also with Jamal Hill. That's what he brings to the table for the next project. Being that he did so good with True To The Game 2 that he was hired to work on the new project, a new TV show that I'm working on with him as well.

In general, what attracts you to the projects you take?

Andra Fuller: It's a lot of things that go into it. For one, who's the production company? Who the director? Is the director experienced? Am I familiar with his work? I'm at the point in my career, where I've been doing this for 12 to 13 years. I'm not a novice. I’m not at the beginning part of my career, I still have a long way to go to accomplish the things that I want to accomplish. However, I have a little bit more meat on my resume to the work to the point where I can be more selective now. What's the story being told? What are you trying to convey? There's things like the diversity of the characters. Who else is attached in the cast? And the bottom line is, do I believe in the project?