Working with Tyler Perry is nothing new for a Wrens’ native.
“Hushed Tones,” an episode of Tyler Perry’s “Divorced Sistas” now streaming in BET+ features M.V. Oliphant, a 1985 T.W. Josey graduate. “Divorced Sistas” is a new series, which premiered on June 9.
“I first worked with Tyler Perry in 2010,’” said Oliphant, who lives in the Atlanta area.
His early work with Perry was as a stand-in on projects such as “House of Payne” for LaVan Davis who plays Curtis Payne and “A Madea Christmas.” He’s also worked as a stand-in for Martin Lawrence, Kadeem Hardison, Ice Cube and Cedric the Entertainer in films such as “Barbershop: The Next Cut” and “Ride Along.”
“It was a great learning experience,” he said. “You get to do lines and blocking. It’s like taking a class and getting paid for it.”
Oliphant said he enjoys working on Perry’s productions and has since moved into speaking roles. He’s also appeared Perry’s “For Better or Worse” and “Meet the Browns.”
“He is funny, but he’s about getting the job done,” he said. “He cracks a whip in a humorous way.”
Some shows might take a week to film an episode, he said, but Perry can film one or two in a single day.
Oliphant’s acting career evolved from a hobby three years after he graduated from Morehouse College. His first public acting performance was a self-written and produced one-man monologue entitled “The Choice is Yours” performed at Broadway Baptist Church, his family’s home church, in south Augusta.
Maxine Barnett-Nesbitt was sitting in the audience and would later become his mentor. Herfilm credits include “In the Heat of the Night,” “Murder in Mississippi” and “Skeleton Key.”
She wasted no time in casting him as a lead role in her production of “A House Without Windows.” It was the first of 12 stage productions would Oliphant perform in during his career. He’s performed in a wide range of genres from comedy and Christian productions to a Shakespearean play.
From the stage, he moved into films, starting out as an extra where he learned about the business.
He’s had roles in *BMF” on Starz and TV One’s “Fatal Attraction” and has worked with performers such as Kim Fields (“Living Single” and “Facts of Life”) and Chip Fields-Hurd (“Good Times,” “What’s Happening“ and “Living Single.”)
In addition to his recent appearance on “Divorced Sistas,” he’s been working on a comedy series called “The Shop” with Gregory Bazile Productions in Greenville, South Carolina. It has characters reminiscent of “Sanford and Son” in the setting of a unisex beauty salon/barber shop.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years. She’s won multiple Georgia Press Association awards and received the 2018 Greater Augusta Arts Council’s media award. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
Thank you Charmaine & your AGN staff once again for your loyal support.