THE NEST OF TASTY CLIPS: Through acting and vocals, gospel’s Christina Bell rings true
By Bill Vaughan
Entertainment Writer
Outside of some stage plays and a 2008 stint with Fred Hammond’s Festival of Praise, CHRISTINA BELL was never one for acting. Since her eye-opening performance in one of Lifetime’s highest rated original movies, “The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel,” she has had an audition tape for the ages.
“I’ve never been in a position like this before,” the then 35-year-old Shreveport, Louisiana native told Tasty Clips after the film’s unveiling in 2020. “Of course, I sang for years and have my own projects, but this is completely different. This is where mainstream meets gospel. I was bombarded with so many people that were showing so much love to the film and all the characters.”
“It was crazy,” she continued. “The text messages were blowing up. People got my phone number that I didn’t even know. I was like, what is happening? Good mess! I gotta change our phone number!”
That is probably to be expected when you’re in a film, now available for viewing On Demand, boasting Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige and Missy Elliot among its executive producers in a story about gospel royalty. The 2.7 million total viewers, according to Nielsen, also had their say when it first aired on April 11 with over 700,000 social media interactions.
“Estelle reached out,” Bell said in disbelief. “Jamie Foxx posted about me twice and that was so huge, of course. [Lawrence] from ‘Insecure.’ Everybody has been saying how much they love the film. It’s incredible. Like I don’t even know if I’m still asleep.”
Upon getting the call to audition, they requested that she do three different sisters. She auditioned for Jacky, Twinkie and Denise, thinking she nailed the latter.
Within less than 24 hours, Twinkie Byrd called to say she was blown away and asked if she could be in Canada in two weeks. The rest, as they say, is history.
Fortunately, director Christine Swanson (who has moved on to direct episodes of “P-Valley,” “All-American,” “Bel-Air,” and “Sweet Magnolias” in addition to features “Albany Road” and upcoming “Basement People”) had a vision to buck the trend of big-name stars in order to capture the essence of the Clark Sisters sound.
“She was like we can teach acting, but we can’t teach the spirit behind their singing,” Bell said. “So they picked out a wonderful lineup, and I was included in it. The Clark Sisters have an anointing that is definitely different from any other female gospel group. They wanted to get the sound as close as possible to the younger version of themselves. Donald Lawrence came in and really helped us out a lot with it. It was absolutely amazing to work with him.”
As for that powerful scene everyone was talking about when Twinkie left the family with the man who shoved their matriarch Mattie Moss Clark (portrayed by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor in another award-worthy performance), she says she understands the decisions concerning her love life and business.
“I believe it was because she didn’t get the opportunity to make them earlier,” Bell said. “She wanted to feel accomplished with more than just being known as Twinkie Clark, the girl behind the B3 organ. It was not necessarily about trying to make anyone upset. It was more so I made this decision on my own.
“I would rather you be proud of me than for you to say that I made a mistake,” she added. “I get why she did it. Would I have done it? I did. I have so much in common with her. Now the guy didn’t push my mama because it would’ve been something else.”
After returning from Canada, Bell was bitten by the acting bug.
“I came back home, and my team and I went full throttle,” she said. “It’s a different feeling. It helps you to understand that you don’t have to place your own self in a box. I’ve gotten outside my comfort zone, and I believe it’s all going to keep coming.”
Bell wouldn’t mind playing someone she resembles and admires — Jill Scott — and regrets allowing fear to get in the way when approached some years back by Aretha Franklin to be a part of her story in a stage play.
The difference now is confidence and passion.
“With everybody seeing the film, prayerfully, people will start looking at me,” she said. “I’m actually serious about what I’m doing because it’s now a love of mine. Let’s pray.”
Now, the Stellar Award–winning artist has a surprise coming out Oct. 2 admitting her fans’ support means the world to her. “I didn’t know [they] were waiting on new music,” Bell writes, “but the wait is almost over.” Visit her on IG at christina_official for details.
For more than 12 years, Bill Vaughan has kept Wave readers up to date with the latest news in entertainment. To contact Vaughan, visit his social media pages on Facebook and Instagram or @tasty_clips, on X @tastyclips, and on LinkedIn to William Vaughan.
