Anthony Anderson Opens Up About Scene-Stealer Mom Doris After Their 6-Week Roadtrip
Q&A
Anthony Anderson and ‘Mama Doris’ Hancox Bowman have been stamping their respective passports across Europe on the series Trippin’ with Anthony Anderson and Mama Doris. The star and his (scene-stealer) mom spent six weeks venturing through some of the most beautiful destinations across England, France, and Italy. Their memorable vacation started in London with a sightseeing tour and walking the catwalk during African Fashion Week.
From there they checked off bucket list experiences across cities like Paris and Venice. And throughout the two enjoyed luxurious accommodations, wining and dining, shopping, and immersing themselves in the culture. Not a bad gig. Ahead of the finale, we caught up with Anderson about how he celebrated Mama Doris and where the final stop in Rome will lead. He also gives his thoughts and insight about the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.
[Note: Since Trippin’ with Anthony Anderson and Mama Doris is a reality show, it does not fall under the SAG-AFTRA strike.]
What kind of feedback have you been getting about the show?
Anthony Anderson: The feedback I’ve gotten has been very disheartening. They keep telling me my mother is the star of the show. That I need to start riding her coattails and get my own career and my own job. People are really enjoying the show and what they’re seeing between my mother and me and this relationship. More importantly, they just enjoy my mother, and rightfully so since she is the star she is.
What did you learn about Mama Doris and yourself from this trip?
I learned my mother is old. She is a young 70-year-old woman. Also, she is an old 70-year-old woman. Just stuck in her ways. What I really learned from this trip is you only live once. My mother is getting up there in age. It’s moments like these that add years to our lives and gives us times and things to cherish. Growing up as a kid you have those moments and then you become a young adult and living in the world and living your life, which takes you away from the family nest. Those intimate relationships. Then you come back together like a six-week vacation with just you and your mom footloose and fancy-free, throwing caution to the wind, which really adds to this chapter to both our lives.
There is one touching moment when you get shoes made for your mom in Italy. I felt there was some symbolism there.
My mother gave me everything I needed and wanted as a kid. For me to be in the position I’m in now, I get to give her everything she wants and needs. Watching her son grow up to prosper thanks in part to the faith she had. It was very symbolic. My mother won those shoes outright. We were skeet-shooting in the countryside of London. I didn’t really lose. She just won. It was a full-circle moment. My mother wears size 13. We were the same size shoe. As a kid, my mother had to special order her shoes. She couldn’t just go someplace.
Half the time they wouldn’t fit right because her foot was so wide. I used to stretch her shoes for her. So for this to come full circle, for her to have these shoes handmade specifically for her was moving. To deliver those shoes to her on camera was a great thing. I’ll tell you right now. She hasn’t worn those shoes though. It’s been about an entire year. She hasn’t worn them one time.
Shane Sinclair/E! Entertainment
Are they displayed in the house because she is so proud to have them?
They are in the box they came in, Scott! They are probably in the corner of a room someplace and not on display in a box!
There are some stops which as a viewer may be a son’s worst nightmare when it comes to their mom. Like when you are creating art together using a nude male model for inspiration. You were a good sport.
My mom put me in situations and positions many times growing up. To sit back and paint a nude model with my mother was interesting because my mom hasn’t been with a man in 11 years. So for her to be that close to a naked man, I didn’t know what was going got happen. Sharing those experiences and having fun. Just doing things outside the box. Outside her norm. We all get complacent in our day-to-day. I thought, “Mom, let’s take this trip and do something we don’t normally do.’ That’s what I learned about my mom. She is very set in her ways and really open to a lot of new things. She felt she lived her life a certain way and this is the way she is living it now. She doesn’t want to break from the norm. This trip showed her it’s okay to go left when everyone else is going right. It’s alright.
So she is up for more travel.
My mother wants to take the show to Rio De Janeiro and go to Carnival. I don’t know why, but my mom wants to see naked people and be half-naked herself. Her trip is to fly over but make a pitstop in Amsterdam so she could smoke a joint in a cafe and eat a space cake and then hang out with the working ladies in the Red Light District. Then from there fly to Carnival in Rio. That’s what is on her itinerary. I don’t know how we will fill the other five weeks.
What can you tease about the finale episode?
We are going to wrap it up in a vineyard in Italy. What my mom didn’t know through this course we were making this migration to this vineyard in Italy because I was developing this wine for her as a surprise. I’m unveiling it to her in this final episode. The wine is called Dolce Mama. She loves sweet wine, so I’ve been developing it and that is what this whole process was.
Can we expect more mother-son projects?
We’re looking at podcasts together, talk shows, more game shows together, and multiple seasons of this show together. The list goes on. We’re really interested in building this mother-son band together and just enjoying it and having fun entertaining not only the people but ourselves.
Photo by: Ernesto Ruscio/E! Entertainment
This comes amid the SAG-AFTRA strike. Having been in the industry for so long, are you surprised by the way things have gone?
I am surprised at the way things have gone, but it’s time. Things have to be reset and balanced. We need to hold each other accountable. We need to hold the producers accountable just as they hold us accountable. We have to find a happy medium. Certain things haven’t changed in 40 years. You can imagine 40 years ago the industry and our lifestyle were completely different. They are asking us to roll back certain things, but inflation steadily keeps hitting us over the head. So how can we roll back when the cost of living continues to increase? You’re asking us to decrease our salaries.
There is the whole thing about artificial intelligence and us as entertainers protecting our image and being compensated. Me being and looking like me when the studio can take advantage of that the way this technology is moving. I applaud the way we are moving ahead technologically, but there have to be parameters and moves in place so everyone is protected that is involved in that. Not just one party of people controlling it and getting the lion’s share of it all.
Some people think this could end in the fall while others are predicting this could go well into next year. What is your outlook?
I hope it doesn’t take a year. There is a small percentage of actors who make a real living. I happen to be one of them. The majority of everyone in our union has regular jobs as well on top of being an actor. People depend on our union and on this industry to make a living. It has to be fair. I hope cooler heads prevail and we are able to sit together at the table without being angry or put off and meet in the middle. Compromising on both ends for the betterment of today and what tomorrow might bring as well.
The actors and writers aren’t trying to be greedy. We just want a fair contract. Something that is equitable and fair. What I would really like to see is the negotiations in a public forum…Not necessarily about numbers but just information to see what is happening firsthand in real-time as opposed to it being disseminated and speculative. I want us to watch these negotiations happen so that we can move forward together.
Trippin’ with Anthony Anderson and Mama Doris season finale, July 27,10/9c, E!
