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Hollywood Wasn’t Ready for Natalie Desselle
The late actress was relegated to roles as the fat and funny sidekick, but she could’ve been so much more
Robert Townsend’s 1997 film, B.A.P.S., is one of the most beloved films in the canon of Black comedies for good reason: It follows Nisi (Halle Berry) and Mickey (Natalie Desselle), two waitresses working in a Georgia restaurant who spend their entire life savings to travel to California and land Nisi a role in a life-changing music video. Their dream is to use the money Nisi will earn from the video to open a combination soul-food restaurant and hair salon, but nothing about their trip goes as planned. They’re ensnared in a plot to trick a terminally ill millionaire out of his fortune and spend the remainder of the movie realizing that it’s worthless to earn $10,000 and live in a mansion if it comes at the expense of dirtying their souls.
Though Berry’s clearly meant to be the film’s star, every time Desselle appears on the screen — with a unique hairstyle that spells out “boo yow” on the back, a bright-yellow patent leather suit, and comedic chops for days — she absolutely steals the show.
There are no shortage of scenes that showcase how hilarious Desselle could be, but there’s one that comes to mind: As Nisi stands in the long line outside of…
