If you’re tapped in at all to the culture’s current movies and TV shows, then there’s no way you’re unfamiliar with Woody McClain. The breakout talent started as a content creator on Vine known as “Woody the Great” and a background dancer who toured with Chris Brown, and now he’s killing the acting game. He gave us such a genuine and human glimpse into the emotional and triumphant world of Bobby Brown in BET’s The New Edition Story and The Bobby Brown Story.
And now, a lot of us tune in every week to see him play the ruthless but alluring Cane Tejada on Starz’s Power Book II: Ghost. These roles were both so major that I wasn’t sure what to expect when he hopped on Zoom. But after a few exchanges, I realized that not only was he super humble and down to earth, but this was going to be a fun experience.
We started the interview by chatting about our mutual love for music and marching bands. Random fact, he played the tuba in high school and college and credits the experience for his level of discipline. “I had no filter or structure before. I was just running around wild until I got into the band,” Woody says to xoNecole. “Shoutout to Mr. Jenkins, my high school band director, who was like a father figure to a lot of people in our class. Every program I’ve done, from high school band and college band to the dance crew, has been about structure.”
Woody McClain
Photo courtesy of Woody McClain
But as a disciplined HBCU man who came from a traditional family and loves his peace, he’s still adjusting to the “celebrity” element of his reality. “I was blessed to work a 9 to 5 until 23. So, I experienced the real world. But once you’re on TV, people don’t see you as a real person,” he explains. “I think that’s where it’s strange for me. Because you can be like at the airport, and someone can come up and grab you, and I’d just never do that. It can get really tricky; I’m still adjusting.”
Although a lot can come with the lifestyle, it’s clear he’s enjoying what he’s doing, and he’s not letting anything get in his way – or anyone. When I asked about his dating life, he was very clear on where he stood. “I love dating my career and my craft. That’s my boo thang,” he says concisely with a smile.
But while he didn’t give xoNecole too many deets on that, it was obvious his love of family is very prevalent in his life. In fact, he shares that trait with his character, Cane. “Cane does everything in the best interest of his family. That’s how I am in real life,” he explains. “I’m trying to make sure my family is okay. That’s the only thing we have in alignment, but of course, he goes over the top.”
Once we jumped into the “Power Universe,” it was only right to get his thoughts on some of the toxicity of the characters we love to hate (IYKYK). This led us to the start of it all and how Woody admired Omari Hardwick’s performance, who played Ghost in the original series. “In my opinion, he doesn’t always get the credit he deserves. Without Omari, I don’t think any of the universes would exist right now,” he admits. “He set the bar so high and did such a great job at setting a foundation. Now we’re just trying to build off what he’s created."
"Without Omari, I don’t think any of the universes would exist right now. He set the bar so high and did such a great job at setting a foundation. Now we’re just trying to build off what he’s created."
xoMan Woody McClain Opens Up About Healthy Relationships
But when we returned to the present, I had to be honest and tell him that I constantly side-eye his character Cane and the crazy decisions he makes. But he responded in a very human way, saying, “All he [Cane] knows is broken love. Monae (played by Mary J. Blige) is a horrible mother. Nobody ever talks about the root, and I think that’s very important for a show like this. It's very essential when people have kids to be careful about the information they feed to them because it definitely affects how they are when they’re older.”
He went on to explain that he saw many examples of healthy love from his grandparents and parents. In fact, he’s named after his grandfather and father and plans to keep the tradition going. “My grandfather was a reverend, radio host, and a community activist. He did everything to provide for his eight kids, and I always try to model myself and how I move after him,” he says.
I genuinely enjoyed this conversation because his story is such a clear example of an authentic person putting in the work to create a dream-worthy life. In ten years, he sees himself producing his own film, TV, and music projects and creating opportunities for his friends. At the core, he’s still Woody the Great. He wants to work with his tribe and make people laugh. When he needs to escape the craziness of the industry, he goes bowling with friends, makes investments, produces music (something he’s passionate about), and works on his golf swing (we see you, Black man, smile).
The difference between him and so many others is his intense level of discipline that he continues to hold on to, his natural-born leadership skills – which he feels he’s always had, and his trust in God. “Faith has been a part of the entire journey. I wouldn’t be here without God opening up certain doors for me. Every door led me to where I am right now. I never question anything; I just follow it.”
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Feature image courtesy of Woody McClain
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Skylar sees things differently. At the time, she was shooting content on her iPhone. Temi came into the picture with a new perspective, an understanding of tech, and, eventually, a camera. “He doesn't give himself enough credit,” Skylar says. “He wasn't just my tripod. He wasn't just standing behind the camera and going ‘click.’ He was giving advice. He was giving me insight to how I could look at things from a different perspective. And I was like, 'Oh, he’s an artist.' I think it was maybe a heartbeat of that kind of energy of like, ‘Baby, can you take this picture?’ And it turned so quickly into, we're partners. We can work together in a way where we're advancing each other's creative thinking.”
The pair often says they’re two sides of the same coin. Skylar is an Aquarius. She attended art school, paints, and loves poetry. She’s more than happy to let the couple’s management firm and agency, Kensington Grey, handle their admin work. And, she loves to sleep in. Temi, on the other hand, wakes up early. He’s a Virgo. He loves a to-do list and regularly checks in on the couple’s brand partnerships spreadsheet to make sure everything is on track.
Because his storytelling was steeped in his love of technology, he didn’t always think of himself as a creative person. “Where I [am] the dreamer who wants to pluck things out of the sky and spend all day with my head in the clouds, Temi [is] so good at grounding me and helping me figure out how to make things make sense on paper. We just work together in such a complimentary way,” Skylar says.
It’s been more than six years since Brooklyn-based couple Temi and Skylar started dating, and nearly four since they cemented their working relationship. On TikTok and Instagram, the couple’s travel, fashion, and home content regularly rack up hundreds of thousands of views. They’ve worked with brands such as Coach, Aesop, Away, and Liquid IV, bringing their vibrant perspectives to every campaign they execute. Still, nearly two years since both Temi and Skylar committed to full-time content creation and creative directing, the couple says their romantic connection remains their priority.
“We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting,” Skylar says.
Working from home can make it hard to separate work from personal life for any entrepreneur. It can be even more challenging when your business partner is also your lover. Temi and Skylar had already used couples therapy as a tool to help them effectively communicate with one another. When they ran into challenges while working together, their therapist helped them set physical boundaries to help combat the issues.
"We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting."
“It actually took us doing very specific physical things to create boundaries between work and play in our relationship,” Skylar says. “So, for instance, we will only have conversations about work when we're out of bed or we're at the table or in the office. Initially, when we started, we had to light a candle to say that, 'Okay, this is a space where we're connecting, we’re not talking about work.' We needed really hard boundaries at the top. And then it became a little bit more organic.”
The boundaries have been crucial to implement, especially because the couple began working together so naturally. When the pair first met, Skylar was NY-based a social strategist for BuzzFeed and was using content creation to drive business to her lingerie company. She was shooting her own content. Temi was working for Microsoft in D.C. He’d recently traded in his DJing equipment for a camera. “I've always loved taking pictures,” he says. “Even when I was a kid, my African mother would wake me up at 3:00 a.m. [during a] party, and be like, 'Come take the family picture.'”
Growing up, Temi says he watched his parents support each other and be the true definition of partners. He knew he wanted the same for his own relationship. But, the couple also wanted to make sure they were being financially responsible. The pair didn’t quit their traditional jobs until they’d saved up two years' worth of their cost of living. And, Temi received his Master of Business Administration from New York University with the knowledge that it could either help him advance in his corporate career or be applicable to his business with Skylar.
Temi and SkylarCj Hart @hartbreakToday, they say their working relationship is more of a “quiet dance.” They still implement some of the boundaries they learned in therapy, but they also lean into their natural strengths and deep love for one another. When we speak, Temi has planned a date for the couple to see Princess Mononoke in 4K IMAX and added it to their Notion so they can factor it into their busy schedules. “I fully plan to date for the rest of my life,” he says.
Skylar says the couple doesn’t just wait for date nights to check in with one another, though. This often happens in the mornings, after Temi has made her peppermint tea and poured himself a cup of coffee. When they ask each other how they slept, she says, it’s not just a “nicety.” It’s a genuine question meant to foster connection.
“A lot of it happens during the day in the midst of work. We'll stop and we'll hug. Or we’ll slow dance in the kitchen,” she says. “Sometimes it's hard to set a whole date night when you have 7,000 things going on. So, we must grasp these moments and check in when we can. And I think it's become so organic to us that I actually didn't even realize how often we do it. But all day long, we're like, 'Are you good? I felt like your energy shifted,' because we're best friends, we just know. We just feel it happen.”
What’s better than being in love? Building wealth while doing it. Watch Making Cents here for real stories of couples who make money moves together.
Featured image by Cj Hart @hartbreak