Garcelle Beauvais has a palpable personality. Even through the phone, I can feel her bright energy and unmistakable charm. The actress, model, and mother releases a room-filling laugh when I teasingly suggest that she is about to endure a rather dramatic year. Beauvais is joining the cast of reality television’s The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills for the show’s 10th season, along with Sutton Stracke.
“It’s scary for a lot of reasons,” Beauvais says of being on the show, set to air on April 15. As an actor, she explains, she’s always played characters, and with this project, she can’t hide behind any character. “This is my life, my home, my stuff. It’s a little daunting.” Beauvais will be thrown into the gauntlet of reality TV alongside castmates Kyle Richards, Lisa Rinna, Erika Girardi, Dorit Kemsley, Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave, and Denise Richards.
“We just wrapped filming, but we still have the confessionals to do, and that’s where it really gets interesting,” Beauvais tells me with another big, playful laugh. The Haitian-American actress had hesitations about deciding to join RHOBH, because she’s been a fan of the show for years and has friends who star on both the Beverly Hills and Atlanta series. Describing some of the antics she’s watched, she says: “You continue watching it because it’s like a train wreck! I’ve become part of that.”
Rinna, a cast member since 2014, gave newcomer Beauvais a bit of insight recently. “She told me that there are two phases to the show: There’s what we shot and then when the show airs, and the whole world gets to weigh in and give their opinions,” Beauvais reveals. “She said it becomes a whole other show.”
Along with Rinna, Beauvais says she’s always had a close relationship with Denise Richards, and their bond has become tighter, thanks to the show. Following the cast’s trip to Rome, rumors flew about Richards leaving the show. Beauvais had just one response to how Richards was feeling after the trip: “Not great. Not great.”
Friction and drama is inevitable when you place eight strong-minded women together, but Beauvais says she had some preparation. “Having three sons toughened me up,” she says. “I’m trying to raise men. Sometimes I have to be really tough with them, and I think it prepared me to deal with the Housewives.”
Since successfully filming her first season, Beauvais says she’s learned not to let her guard down around the women because “women remember things.” Viewers will quickly learn that Beauvais has an honest, blunt personality, with a tendency to speak her mind, perhaps—at times—to a fault. “I have a sense of humor,” she says. “I can be loud. I can be brash. I love having fun. When something you do doesn’t become fun anymore, who wants to do that?”
In addition to her stint on RHOBH, Beauvais will reprise her role from the 1988 Eddie Murphy movie Coming to America in the film’s sequel, Coming 2 America. “It was like time hadn’t passed,” she says of filming. “I always say this, but black don’t crack. We all look the same. It was a big reunion. Even if you weren’t in a scene, you wanted to be on set. It was just that much fun. It’s nice to see Eddie coming back and better than ever.”
Coming 2 America will be released in December 2020.
