Brandy Reveals She Almost Missed Out On 'Moesha' Audition

It is a widely known fact that Brandy Rayana Norwood, commonly referred to as Brandy, began her acting career in two other sitcoms before her role in "Moesha."

The show was an account of a teenage girl growing up to become an adult in Los Angeles. It was a knockout production and positively impacted black girls' self-representation. 

Even with the great turnout of the show, the famous singer wasn't initially too thrilled about auditioning for the role as she had a few personal reasons to consider per Cheatsheet.

In 1996, Brandy was given the opportunity to go back into acting when Ralph Farquhar, the co-creator of "Moesha," noticed her and requested her to audition. 

At the time, she wasn't interested in auditioning, even with her mom's advice. She told Essence in an interview, just like she told her mom, that she didn't take her acting seriously and she wasn't an actress.

Her experience as an actress on "Thea" wasn't too memorable, which made her not want to go into acting again. However, when she checked the script of "Moesha," she changed her mind about auditioning.

Farquhar wanted Brandy to have the lead role on the show, but her audition was awful. The co-creator admitted that her reading was horrible, and she wouldn't have gotten the part, if the network executives had heard of her audition.  

To make things work with the American songwriter as he believed Brandy was the perfect person for the role, he employed Kim Fields as an acting coach to assist the potential actress. 

Fields did a great job shaping Brandy's talent, and the "Moesha" star gave her credit for discipline in the interview with Essence. 

Despite the show's ending in season 6 with a cliffhanger, people still stream it on platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video as fans still find it relatable. 

The 42-year-old recently made plans to bring the show back and give it a conclusion. She told The New York Times that she owed it to the fans as they didn't end on the best note.

The actress said plans were still in motion, and she couldn't divulge more than that.

In the late '90s and early 2000s, Brandy was known for not just her music and acting career but also her dating life.  

One of the men she was rumored to have dated back then was Kobe Bryant; they went to prom together.

The pair didn't have anything romantic between them as they were more friends, even though they went to the prom.

A report by The Blast showed her career met with a hurdle when she had a child without getting married. At the time, having a child out of wedlock was an inadequate representation, even for the star.

The child was for Robert Smith, and her management had to make up a story about her secret marriage before getting pregnant. Her relationship with Smith eventually ended, but the story still stuck.

The untrue story affected her relationship with Quentin Richardson as they planned to marry. The allegations and criticisms of her past drama ended their romance.

The mother-of-one dated quite a few men after that, but none ended with marriage. Even her engagement to Ryan Press, her former manager, was cut off in 2014, 2 years after their engagement.

Brandy and Monica had a grudge between themselves for some time, and they battled it out on "Verzuz," a show produced by Timbaland and Swizz Beatz.

The episode got over 1.2 million views, including Michelle Obama, the former First Lady of the USA. Fans rooted for both singers but believed the stars would get involved in a physical fight after the show.

Monica revealed to ET in 2020 that fans had no idea why they had the grudge because she and Brandy kept it between each other. She admitted that it was nobody's fault but theirs.

The Blast shared that in 2019, Monica hit "The Boy Is Mine" singer in her face before their first performance of the song, "The Boy Is Mine." 

They both started the night on good terms, but Brandy made a wrong joke. The Mississippi native later apologized and told her co-star she was trying to work on her comedy. 

The "Verzuz" show seemed like what they both needed to clear the air and even their fans made predictions about who would win.