The childhood stars’ on-screen sibling rivalry mirrored a real-life beef that began over a hurtful joke
Dee Dee Davis performed Bryana “Child Lady” Thomkins on The Bernie Mac Present. Not too long ago, she revealed that her real-life dynamic with co-star Jeremy Suarez was removed from pleasant throughout filming. In a brand new interview with The Artwork of Dialogue, Davis laughed as she defined that she and Suarez, who performed her older brother Jordan, had a real feud that began when she was solely 4 years previous. What started as playful teasing rapidly escalated into one thing severe. Full with household arguments, dressing room strikes, and tense power on set.
Davis recalled that the strain started when Suarez made a merciless joke about her mom leaving her. “I actually requested him if he’d seen my mother,” she stated. “And he was like, ‘Your mother went again to Chicago and he or she’s by no means coming again as a result of she hates you.’” Davis’s expression within the clip says all of it. Her eyes huge, half-laughing, half-remembering how harm she felt as a toddler. The second, she admitted, began a years-long rivalry between the 2.
The irony, in fact, is that this off-screen feud mirrored their characters completely. Bryana and Jordan had been recognized for his or her hilarious bickering and petty sibling fights. Due to this fact, giving The Bernie Mac Present a lot of its coronary heart and humor. What viewers didn’t understand, nonetheless, was that a few of that rigidity was actual—and carried over even after the cameras stopped rolling.
Household Drama Prolonged Past The Little one Stars
As Davis revealed, the meat didn’t cease together with her and Suarez—it unfold to their households. “We needed to transfer dressing rooms,” she defined within the interview, shaking her head at how ridiculous it appears in hindsight. “My mother and his grandma had been going at it, too. In the event you knew my mother, you’d perceive. She’s a firecracker.” In line with Davis, the fixed bickering on set turned such an issue that the manufacturing group needed to separate the 2 baby stars totally.
It obtained to the purpose the place the mother and father themselves began clashing. Davis laughed whereas recalling how her mom would demand that manufacturing transfer them to completely different dressing rooms. “If Jeremy’s grandma even checked out my mother mistaken, my mother was like, ‘Yeah, we’re transferring,’” she stated, imitating her mom’s Chicago accent. “After that, we didn’t have any extra issues.”
Regardless of the strain, Davis additionally made certain to credit score the late Bernie Mac for being a steadying affect through the chaos. She shared that Bernie typically gave her mother recommendation about navigating Hollywood as a guardian to a toddler actor, serving to her keep away from pointless battle whereas retaining her protecting instincts intact. “He didn’t give me a number of recommendation,” Davis admitted, “however he gave my mother a number of recommendation about methods to transfer together with her children on this enterprise.”
A Childhood Rivalry That Turned Into Lifelong Friendship
Trying again now, Davis says there’s no dangerous blood left between her and Suarez. Actually, they’re shut buddies as adults. “That’s my man,” she stated warmly. “Jay’s my bro for actual. Something I wish to do, he’s like, ‘Come on, I’m down.’” She defined that the 2 reconnected of their twenties and instantly laughed off their previous rigidity, realizing how absurd their feud was. “We actually hated one another as children,” she stated with a smile. “Now we simply joke about it. It’s love now.”
Followers of The Bernie Mac Present would possibly discover it arduous to think about that the candy, harmless “Child Lady” really had an off-screen mood, however Davis’s candor introduced a layer of humanity to what many noticed as an ideal sitcom household. Her honesty additionally confirmed how baby actors, even in loving environments, can conflict below the pressures of Hollywood and household involvement.
Right now, Davis has stepped again into the highlight with humor and self-awareness, typically participating on-line about her time on the present. Her simple snort and heat within the interview make it clear that no matter friction existed between her and Suarez is lengthy gone—changed by actual respect and shared nostalgia for the groundbreaking sequence that outlined each of their childhoods.
The Struggle That Began It All
Davis defined that all the battle was triggered by that one offhand remark about her mom. To a four-year-old, she stated, it felt devastating. “I didn’t even perceive what was taking place,” she laughed. “I used to be simply in search of my mama. And right here’s this boy telling me she left me. Like, what are you even speaking about?”
That childhood misunderstanding spiraled right into a sequence of spats that typically carried over into filming. She admitted that sure Bernie Mac Present struggle scenes—like when Bryana slapped Jordan or shouted at him—had been fueled by real frustration. “These weren’t appearing moments,” Davis joked. “These had been actual.”
But, quite than harbor resentment, Davis framed it as a hilarious reminiscence. “I imply, we had been simply children,” she stated. “It felt severe again then, however now it’s simply humorous. We actually had been simply dwelling out the characters with out even realizing it.”
Nostalgia and Humor Drive All Sorts of Fan Reactions
After The Artwork of Dialogue posted the clip, the web had a subject day. Inside hours, the video had over 250,000 views on X, with followers cracking jokes a couple of “4-year-old feud” that in some way became Hollywood historical past. “This boy was 10 beefing with a 4-year-old,” one person wrote, racking up lots of of likes. Others joked that Suarez wasn’t appearing through the present’s struggle scenes—“That boy was not appearing,” one other person stated.
Followers additionally praised Davis’s impersonation of Suarez’s raspy voice, calling it “spot on” and “too actual.” The clip even prompted nostalgic reactions from longtime viewers who grew up watching the Fox sitcom. “Man, I really feel previous as hell,” one commenter admitted. “Child Lady all grown up now.”
Not everybody noticed the story as pure comedy—some followers sympathized with Davis, noting that the joke about her mother might’ve been traumatic for such a younger baby. “Think about you’re 4, in search of your mother, and a child tells you she left you. That’s wild,” one reply learn. However most agreed that Davis’s humor and maturity about it made the story much more endearing.
A Reminder of The Bernie Mac Present’s Lasting Influence
Past the laughs, the story reignited appreciation for The Bernie Mac Present itself—a groundbreaking sitcom that balanced comedy with heartfelt portrayals of Black household life. Working from 2001 to 2006, the sequence turned one among Fox’s most acclaimed comedies, incomes a number of NAACP Picture Awards and a Peabody Award. For followers, the present’s genuine humor about parenting, self-discipline, and household chaos made it timeless.
Listening to behind-the-scenes tales like this solely deepens that nostalgia. Davis’s interview reminds followers that the present’s real looking sibling rigidity got here from someplace actual—and that the actors had been genuinely like household, even when that meant just a few bumps alongside the way in which. As one fan wrote, “No surprise the chemistry was so good—they had been actually preventing for actual.”
Practically 20 years after Bernie Mac’s passing, his legacy nonetheless anchors each reminiscence the forged shares. For Davis and Suarez, their journey from childhood adversaries to grownup buddies mirrors the teachings the present itself taught: household would possibly struggle, however love at all times wins in the long run.
Dee Dee Davis Steps Again Into the Highlight
Now in her late twenties, Dee Dee Davis is re-emerging as one of the crucial relatable voices from the early-2000s sitcom period. Her candid storytelling and charisma have made her a favourite on The Artwork of Dialogue’s platform, which focuses on intimate interviews with entertainers reflecting on pivotal cultural moments. This clip, particularly, hit a candy spot—equal components humorous, human, and nostalgic.
Since stepping away from appearing for a number of years, Davis has centered on household and artistic initiatives, typically participating with followers who grew up watching her on TV. In the meantime, Jeremy Suarez has continued working in leisure, voicing roles in animated movies and making visitor appearances throughout sitcoms. Their renewed friendship, as Davis described, displays how each have matured past their early on-set feud.
If something, the entire dialog reminded followers simply how deeply The Bernie Mac Present’s forged is woven into Black tv historical past. What began as a confession a couple of childhood grudge has became a celebration of progress, forgiveness, and humor—proof that even probably the most chaotic sitcom households can nonetheless come full circle.
