Looking Back at Reginald Hudlin’s House Party!

One of the most influential Black voices in America, Reginald Hudlin, 64, launched his career as a Harvard undergraduate – his short film thesis inspiring his iconic 1990 first feature, House Party, now being re-released.

Besides directing notable films including Boomerang, The Great White Hype and Marshall, Hudlin became a prolific TV director too, working on such diverse shows as Everybody Hates Chris, New Girl and Modern Family.

The multi-talented Hudlin even wrote the Marvel Comics series Black Panther as well as serving three years as president of Entertainment at BET, and producing the Oscars, Emmys and NAACP Image Awards. As a producer, he was a key player behind Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar-winning Django Unchained.

He tells SENIOR PLANET why he still has so much more to do:

Q: House Party came out 36 years ago – now celebrating its re-release with a special 4K edition. What do you think about when you reflect back to its 1990 debut?

REGGIE: A couple of things. One is you second guess all these choices right? Like, oh, is that the right music cue? Oh, how do I feel about that lighting now? Or is that joke a little politically incorrect now? But then you go: Why am I revisiting these decisions because – 36 years later – people still like this movie. So let it go! Embrace the love and keep it moving!

Q: Are you still in touch with the House Party cast?

REGGIE: Honestly, making that movie was like our high school graduation. For most of us, it was our first movies – like Kid ’n Play had never made a movie. So, just like your high school graduating class, we all have a level of connection. We may not see each other for years but it doesn’t matter because, once we do, it’s like the years never passed. I do a concert at the Hollywood Bowl every other year so I’ve had Kid ’n Play perform, and it was great. We talk with Full Force all the time, and it’s funny because they played the villains yet they’re the nicest guys in the world, and even stay in touch with my mother. They’re all just lovely people and we share an amazing connection because of that film.

Q: What are the greatest highlights of your career since 1990?

REGGIE: I’m very fortunate and there’s many things that I feel very proud about. Following House Party I directed Boomerang with Eddie Murphy – another movie that people still love to this day. I’m also proud of producing Django Unchained and writing the Black Panther comic book for four years and the success that came out of that. Working with Chadwick Boseman and making Thurgood Marshall with him and Josh Gad, Sterling K Brown and Kate Hudson. We all had so much fun together making that movie which, as time passes, becomes even more important.  I’m also very proud of my documentaries about Sidney Poitier and Clarence Avant. Doing the Oscars? Golly, it’s all been wonderful.

Q: What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

REGGIE: I’ve worked three or four times with Morgan Freeman, and he told me that he works on puzzles and Sudoku and plays golf – all while working constantly on TV and film. So I’m certainly gonna do anything Morgan Freeman tells me to do – because he’s the voice of God! But the best advice I got was from Harry Belafonte whom I interviewed before he passed – and he said: Reggie, do me a favor. Don’t get old! And I said: Of course, yes sir. So I try to stay as physically active as possible. I try to keep interested in the entire world, whether it’s arts, business or politics – just keep trying to learn new things.

Q: Tell us about your beautiful wife Chrisette who, by the way, set up former First Man Doug Emhoff on a blind date with then Attorney-General of California Kamala Harris?

REGGIE: My wife is such a great partner in so many ways – and we’re planning to restart date night at least once a week. I think it’s very important. And it doesn’t have to be anything fancy – but let’s just be together. We both have our own socializing but we just try to make sure that our connection is great and we’re exploring new things together. What’s unfair is that my wife is so naturally beautiful, and she doesn’t seem to have the capacity to gain weight. But she still likes to take care of me and says: Hey, let’s go take a walk this Sunday or, Hey, why don’t we eat this together? She’s 100% supportive of eating right and living right.

Q: Talk us through a day in your life?

REGGIE: It’s tricky, because I’m a five hours sleeper which is not good. I’d like to sleep more, but I’m usually up pretty early so I sneak out so I don’t wake her or the dogs up. And I do a little work or, if it’s a workout morning, by 7.30am I’m outside doing that. Then I’m catching up with the news and calling the East Coast. At 9am, the day begins with meetings on zoom or in person. I can juggle a lot of things simultaneously, unless I’m writing and then I need the world to go away. That’s why I love to write during the holiday season, when the world quiets down and I can focus. It’s like: Oh my god, imagine if I didn’t have to talk to people. I’d get so much done! Later on, I try to have dinner with family, if possible. I try to get on my kids’ schedule but our daughter is at college now and our son is a busy person – but when we do all get together, it’s the best of all possible times.

Q: Explain the enduring appeal of House Party?

REGGIE: Well, the thing is, from the 50s to now, there’s all these changes in style and sound, but teenagers are teenagers, and that involves a lot of immutables – meaning you don’t know what you’re doing when it comes to meeting people and connecting, or how you respond at a party or how you deal with a bully, or how do you manage your parents? So we can always relate to those things.

When I first saw Risky Business and Animal House, I knew I wanted to make a movie like that one day – and so I did it with House Party. I talk to young people today who go: You ruined my life! When I saw House Party, I spent the rest of my life looking for a party like that, but kids don’t do parties like that anymore. And I go: Well that’s sad to hear, because those kind of parties were great.

They tell me at parties today, they call them kickbacks now, and no one’s dancing, all trying to be cool. And I’m like: No, no, you need to have fun. And this was a movie set during what I call the “happy rap” era, before gangster rap, when people were just making music about going to a party. And I think that era is underrated, and people like revisiting it and saying: We really miss those days. Those were some good times.

Here’s a peek at the original trailer!

Q: What’s up next?

REGGIE: I’m working on a new documentary and it’s really good but I can’t reveal that to the world until next year. Then there’s a big movie, that hopefully we’ll start shooting next year, and also a new graphic novel we’re working on.

Q: What’s your secret to aging with attitude?

REGGIE: I don’t spend that much time looking backwards, because there’s so many projects I’m working on so I’m moving forward. I’m as excited about what I’m going to do as I am about things that I’ve done already. A long time ago, I realized that when you’re a kid, you do anything, you draw a picture, then you bang on a piano, then you go play baseball, because you just keeping going and there’s no boundaries.

As we get older, we figure out what we’re good at, and we focus on that, and we stop trying new things – because we don’t want to be bad at things. So what I endeavor to do, is embrace being bad or mediocre. You don’t have to be great at something. You can just try it. So the goal is to try something new at least once a year.

NB: House Party will be available on 4K UHD and Blu-Ray from the Criterion Collection January 27.

Photo credit (top): Ingrid Hertfelder

Gill Pringle began her career as a rock columnist for popular British newspapers, traveling the world with Madonna, U2 and Michael Jackson. Moving to Los Angeles 27 years ago, she interviews film and TV personalities for prestigious UK outlets, The Independent, The i-paper and The Sunday Times – and, of course, Senior Planet. A member of Critics Choice Association, BAFTA and AWFJ, she wrote the screenplay for 2016 Netflix family film, The 3 Tails Movie: A Mermaid Adventure. An award-winning writer, in 2021 she was honored by the Los Angeles Press Club with 1st prize at the NAEJ Awards.