Kandi Burruss Embraces New Acting Role After RHOA Exit, Starring In “Reasonable Doubt”
After 14 seasons of drama on Real Housewives of Atlanta, Kandi Burruss is making waves in the acting world. The multi-talented star recently appeared on the show Reasonable Doubt and is excited to show a new side of herself.
As she explained to PEOPLE, Kandi, 48, landed the role after a chance meeting with the show’s creator, Raamla Mohamed, earlier this year.
“She was headed to Atlanta, coming to start production on this season, and we exchanged information. I remember we sat down here in Atlanta and we were talking and she was like, ‘Well, what type of role would you want to play?’ And I told her, ‘I want something that I could really show my acting chops. I want to show people something with real emotion,’” she stated.
On the October 3 episode of Reasonable Doubt, Kandi made her debut as Eboni Phillips, a recovering addict facing complex challenges. Speaking about the character she plays, she stated, “To me, Eboni is an interesting person to play. Especially now in a world where women are being exposed in entertainment and sports for all these wild things that they were doing behind the scenes that we never knew was going on, Eboni would be one of those women that were affected in a situation like that where for so many years nobody believed Eboni was going through these things. Everybody felt like she was a person who dealt with self-destruction and instead of actually being a person who was a victim in a relationship with a powerful man.”
Kandi didn’t have to look far for inspiration in preparing for the role. She shared that she once dated someone who abused prescription drugs. As she recalled: “I remembered sometimes we’d be having a regular conversation, but then all of a sudden, he’ll be talking and then he start nodding off in the middle of a conversation. I took my mind back to those moments and tried to put myself in his shoes to be on the opposite side of it, to be like, ‘Okay, what was going on in his mind when he was doing this?’ and how it affected him. I really feel like people will be able to see me in a different light as an actress after seeing Eboni.”
Despite her years in reality TV, Kandi said that working on Reasonable Doubt felt completely different. “Acting is almost escapism in a way. Being on a scripted show, when the scene is done, nobody has hard feelings. You go home and everything is at peace. But when you’re doing reality, everybody cannot wait to go in on each other. As soon as you leave the scene, you’re still mad at each other. I get home, it’s like all-out war. It’s night and day,” she stated.
Reflecting on her departure from Real Housewives of Atlanta, Kandi said, “I couldn’t be happier with the way things have been going since I am not on the show. Not that I don’t like the show, I just feel like when I left, I had done 14 seasons straight. No other Housewife had done that. So a lot of times, I was filming all year-round reality, and that can be a little draining. Since I left Housewives, I’ve done a lot of things I’m super excited about. It’s a lot happening.”
Though she’s moved on from Real Housewives Of Atlanta, Kandi has kept busy. In addition to her role on Reasonable Doubt, she’s been touring with her group XSCAPE, producing a Broadway adaptation of Othello, and filming more episodes of The Chi.
