Kelly Jenrette Talks ‘All American: Homecoming’ and Whether There’s Potential for a ‘Pitch’ Revival [Interview]

You may not realize it, but you know Kelly Jenrette.

It might be from The Handmaids Tale, when she delivered a performance that ultimately earned her an Emmy nomination. Or perhaps you know her as Rhonda the assistant, from the critically acclaimed Pitch. Maybe it’s from a variety of her other projects like Grandfathered, Limetown, or Manhunt, just to name a few.

Jenrette has had an incredibly distinguished career spanning the past decade, and now she’s preparing to take on a brand new chapter as a series regular on The CW’s All American: Homecoming.

Jenrette will be playing Amara Patterson, Professor at HBCU Bringston University, and Aunt to series lead Simone Hicks. It’s a role Jenrette feels deeply connected with, because of how intimately she can relate.

I recently spoke with Jenrette about her role on All American: Homecoming and what viewers can look forward to from the series.

“What excites me the most is that I relate to her so well. The dynamic between Amara and Simone reminds me of the dynamic between me, Kelly, and my nephew, Johnathon. My sister has two kids — my nephew Johnathon, and my niece Evelyn. I call John my nephew-son, and Evelyn my niece-daughter, because they are like my children. To get to play out that dynamic on TV absolutely just makes me love and adore my niece and nephew even more.”

“I love the relationship [Amara] has with Simone, I love how she loves. Amara loves people, especially these kids at this University. It’s like a family, and that’s very much how I am. I love hard, so I love that aspect of her. And that she pulls no punches, she plays no games, she’s going to let you know this is what it is.”

“Pulls no punches” is certainly an accurate description of the character audiences met in All American Season 3, when the gang traveled to Bringston University for Homecoming’s backdoor pilot. Amara is instantly passionate and dedicated to what she believes in — keeping the University branded through excellence.

That conviction isn’t the only thing that shines about Jenrette’s performance. There is an innate warmth about the character, especially in regards to the familial dynamic she shares with Simone. Jenrette and Geffri Maya were able to formulate that chemistry almost instantly. 

“The first time I met [Geffri] was the first day that I shot,” Jenrette recalled.

“I remember passing her and she immediately waved and kind of opened her arms for a hug — and she gives the best hugs. It reminds me of my mom’s hugs, that is just like ‘I’m here, I’m present with you.’ And from that moment on — cause I give those same kinds of hugs — I was like ‘Oh, I know you. We know each other, and we love each other.’ So it was just something that just felt so organic and not forced, and I’m so glad that it translates.”

That got me wondering more about the backdoor pilot for Homecoming. What was it like, stepping onto such a well-established, beloved show? For a pro like Jenrette, it was pretty simple — she was already a fan.

“It was exciting because I was already a fan of All American. And I love it when that happens,” she said. “So to be given the opportunity to come into this All American world — we weren’t sure that it was going to officially become the All American Universe as we call it now. It was humbling. It was exciting.”

When I asked Jenrette if Homecoming — now officially greenlit with a full series order — would dive deeper into Amara beyond her roles as Professor and Aunt, she was quick to confirm it would. 

“We will get to know a lot about Amara about her past. I kind of started saying in the last couple of episodes that we’ve been shooting, ‘Why won’t they leave Amara alone?’ Because there’s some really good stuff that’s coming up that we get to find out about Amara. I’m really excited for our audiences to get to know her, and see her as a real human being. Flaws and all.”

When it comes to the series as a whole, Jenrette was clear the show wouldn’t be shying away from divisive topics. Carefully avoiding any potential spoilers, she told me a little bit about the themes Homecoming will tackle in its first season.

“We’re definitely touching on issues that many shows may not be as eager to approach,” she confirmed. “We absolutely will be dealing with issues, and mental health is one of them. Other issues are also arising — like I briefly read [the script for] Episode 11 and I was like ‘Oh my God!’ There are definitely going to be things that are addressed in the show that will for sure start conversations with people.”

Understandably, Jenrette couldn’t get into too much detail regarding specifics, but when I begged her for just a little tea to hold fans over until the series premiere, she spilled what she could.

“A little bit of tea for Amara, I would just say, let’s see what happens between Amara and Coach Marcus. If anything, I don’t know!!”

Jenrette also discussed what makes All-American: Homecoming stand apart from its sister series. 

“One, they’re in college and it is based at an HBCU — a Historically Black University. The sports are tennis and baseball, not sports you think of when you think of an HBCU. You think of basketball, you think of football, so I think that should already put people in a mindset of ‘Oh, this is already different.’ And then the emphasis truly is on education and learning. So I think there are many things that do parallel our flagship show in that there is heart, there is passion, there is love, and I think what we bring is almost like a grown-up version of that now that they are in college.”

As our conversation came to a close, I couldn’t help but ask if she would ever consider returning to Pitch, if it were to make the comeback fans are craving

“Absolutely! Without a doubt. If there was no conflict and I could do it, I would run. I would run. And I love that character as Rhonda as well. It was an amazing time. I was excited because BET aired the entire first season I want to say sometime last year, and I was like ‘What does this mean?!’ But I haven’t heard anything since then. And now Kylie is another show — Big Sky — and she’s killing it over there as well. But we can always hope and dream!”

Let the campaigning for Pitch’s revival officially begin! Until then, be sure to tune into the premiere of All American: Homecoming, where Jenrette will be busy leaning into yet another memorable role.

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All American: Homecoming premieres Tuesday, February 21st at 9/8c on The CW.

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