Garcelle Beauvais & More Stars Talk Lifetime’s ‘Terry McMillan Presents: Tempted By Love’

The Bear meets How Stella Got Her Groove Back in Terry McMillan Presents Tempted By Love. Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ fan favorite Garcelle Beauvais stars and executive produces the Lifetime movie as Ava, a world-class chef who rushes home from Europe to South Carolina after her Aunt Judy (Donna Biscoe) suffers a fall. 

Ava’s world is turned upside down after a chance meeting with Luke (co-producer Vaughn W. Hebron), a driver 20 years her junior. Despite the age gap, the two fall for each other and realize they have more in common than they realize. The question is if it’s a forever love or a simple fling. Rounding out the star-studded cast is Lela Rochon and Loretta Devine, who reunite onscreen having previously appeared in Terry McMillian’s feature film Waiting to Exhale. 

Beauvais, Rochon, and Biscoe sit down with us to talk about why this movie is delicious watch. 

What was the initial reaction to the script and that Terry McMillian attached? 

Lela Rochon: The biggest movie I ever did in my career was a Terry McMillian film, Waiting to Exhale. When I see her name, it holds my interest. What I love about Terry’s stories is they have always been truthful and heartfelt stories. What we really think. What we really say to our girlfriends. Stories we don’t see. Stories about mature women, which we definitely don’t see enough. 

Garcelle Beauvais: For me, working with Lifetime, we were thinking about what we wanted to do next. We have done The Black Girl Missing franchise and will continue to do them. We thought, “Let’s do a romance. Do something different.” Then we went to Tamara T. Gregory and we were like, “We need a script also with Terry McMillian and Tamara wrote it along with her as Terry gives us notes. It was just a refreshing take on a woman’s point of view of being older, not really ready to fall in love with a younger man but it happens here. I think it’s just a hopeful story. 

Donna Biscoe: I didn’t even know Terry was affiliated with the film at first and fell in love with the script. Then when I heard Terry, I was like, “What?”

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When it comes to getting older, everyone faces it a certain way. All three of you face it in different ways. 

Garcelle: For my character, Ava, is a Michelin chef. She is starting to get arthritis and dealing with menopause. We didn’t want to shy away from those things because they happen in real life. I think the message is hopeful. Even though you’re going through those things, you can still have intimacy feel sexy, and fall in love. I think that is the message of the movie. You can find love at any time. 

Lela: What I enjoyed about my character is she sort of represents the really common woman. At a certain age, she has made choices and finds herself single. She finds it rough because it’s hard out there getting a man over 50. Some women have divorced and regret it. Some are happy. It’s all over the place. My character is divorced and still unsure if that was the right decision. So when Ava’s character has the opportunity to find love she is like, “Girl, go get it.” 

Donna: The take on menopause is that menopause is not for wimps. You have to be strong to get through it. 

I love the dynamic between Ava and Aunt Judy. How would you describe their bond? 

Donna: Judy is that aunt everybody wants in a family. Even if you’re mom is around, you still want your aunt. My own aunt was like that. She gave advice and didn’t hold back. If you’re messing up, she will tell you you’re messing up and need to get in line. I think Ava can appreciate that. She loved her for that. 

Garcelle: That’s one of the things I loved about this story. I feel like my backstory with our relationship is she always looked up to her aunt, even though she had her aunt at the time. They had a special bond. You can see it and feel it. 

Garcelle, how was it working with Vaughn and filming those intimate scenes? 

Garcelle: Well, it wasn’t a hard day at work. I’ll tell you that. It was great. For us, when we were casting this what was important was that Luke had to be young enough that you believed there was a big age gap. He also had to be man enough so you believed he would get a woman like that. I think that is what Vaughn brought to the project. It was believable, we had great chemistry when we had our table read. It felt right. Luckily, we didn’t have to struggle with chemistry. It was there, so that helped. Our director Tamara was also great at setting the tone when it came to the intimate scenes and made sure we felt comfortable and safe. That was really helpful. 

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Loretta Devine is in this movie. Lela, how was it having this Waiting to Exhale reunion onscreen almost 30 years later? 

Lela: It was wonderful because Loretta and I have remained friends all these years. With Loretta having 99 jobs, for us to get to work together made me happy we also got to spend time together. Any time we get a minute together is a good time. 

Garcelle: We laughed so much. 

There is a dinner scene with everyone you wish went longer. 

Donna: I think when you see it, you know what we shared is truly genuine. We had a good time and a fun day. 

For Tempted By Love, I feel there is this cross-generational connection. 

Garcelle: I think what’s really exciting is the fact that you can bring all kinds of people together. When we had our premiere, we had men, young adults, and older people. Everyone felt like family and home and excited. The only one who had a hard time was my son Oliver. He was watching it through his fingers. Other than that, I think it’s a great way to bring the family together. 

Donna: There was a time when you would have never seen any programming about seasoned women. It just never happened. I was so thrilled to see they were willing to take a chance on a film like this and air it. We’ve come a long way. 

Lela: We have. I think it’s timely because this is the year of the woman. We will have a woman president in November. Girl power. 

Garcelle: Let’s hear it for black girl magic. 

Garcelle, along with acting and producing, you also have this other career with Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. You’ve become so popular for that, even getting a People’s Choice nominee. Are you finding a lot of crossover? 

Garcelle: Let me tell you that the show is a juggernaut in terms of visibility, the platform, and the fans are crazy. It helps in every way to be able to merge the two. The fans from Housewives, fans of Terry McMillian, and these amazing actresses. I think it’s all going to help. I hope the movie does really well. 

I read that the cast returned from Carnival in St. Lucia. How is it having Jennifer Tilly in the group? 

Garcelle: She is so much fun. A spitfire. It has been really a joy. I knew Jennifer before, but getting to spend more time with her during our season has been really fantastic. Both she and Sutten [Stracke] came to our premiere for the film last night to support. Denise Richards was there as well. 

Lela, you’re working on The Family Business: New Orleans. What can we expect from that role? 

Lela: It’s juicy. What I will tease is I have my own casino in New Orleans with my son Brandon T. Jackson. We’re trying very hard to stay honest and crime-free. And, you know, it’s rough but we’re trying. 

Talking about Tempted By Love, do you expect the film to help create conversations regarding aging and what people go through? 

Donna: It’s mostly about what we go through as women, black or white, as we age. There is very little conversation about it. We’re hoping that you can talk about going through menopause and dating a younger man. 

Lela: I think this movie gives you permission for a lot of things. That is okay to be hot and have hot flashes. It’s okay to be alone. It’s okay to make that choice to be alone or have a relationship and date a younger man and not be judged by it. We own our own future and self because we have a right to live our lives the way we choose to live them and not be judged for it. Everyone is going to get older at some point. 

Garcelle: Aging beats the alternative, so I’ll take it. 

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Garcelle, how are you in the kitchen? How would you describe your culinary skills? 

Garcelle: I’m pretty good in the kitchen. I’m Haitian, so when you’re a Haitian woman you’re taught to cook very early. I can definitely cook, but I really wanted to master looking like a chef. I went to YouTube University and learned some chopping skills and stuff like that, but it was fun. It was great to play a character like this. I haven’t played a character like this probably ever if I think about it. I tend to get roles like a lawyer who is strong. It was nice to have some vulnerability and be able to have conversations with someone who is younger and it’s okay. 

Do you see there being a sequel? 

Garcelle: People have been wondering if we’ll have a sequel because they want to know what happens to these people. We don’t know, but I would absolutely love to revisit these characters and see where they land. 

Terry McMillan Presents Tempted By Love premiere, August 17, 8/7c, Lifetime