(WSVN) - She drops sick beats on TV, and in real life. Deco’s Chris Van Vliet met up with Bre-Z from “Empire” in SoFlo.
Sure, Cookie and Lucious are big stars on “Empire” but the music really takes center stage. And when it comes to rap, no one does it better on “Empire” than Freda Gatz. Earlier today we chatted with Bre-Z, who plays Freda on the show.
Bre-Z (as Freda): “Now I had to say my goodbyes to a real good man.”
You’ve heard her rhymes on “Empire,” but behind Freda Gatz is Bre-Z, a rapper turned actor whose first role — and first audition ever — was for the hit FOX show.
Bre-Z: “I kept stumbling over the lines, and the writer was like, ‘Doesn’t she rap?’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah I rap.’ They’re like, ‘Just let her rap, just let her rap.'”
It was that rapping that landed her a gig as a mainstay on “Empire.”
Bre-Z (as Freda): “I wake up in the morning, what I’m thankful for, you being my God is what I’m thankful for.”
And Bre-Z’s unforgettable voice has made her Freda a favorite on the show.
Bre-Z: “My voice has honestly been the same since I was a kid. I knew it was different, because my mom used to think I was my brother when I called the phone. My voice just didn’t sound like the regular girl’s with, like, high-pitched voices.”
In season 2, Bre-Z was at the center of one of the most shocking storylines when Freda did this…
Jussie Smollet (as Jamal Lyon): “No no no, Stop Freda, no! Get the gun!”
And it made her public enemy number one to a lot of “Empire” fans.
Bre-Z: “I’d have to deal with people saying, ‘Oh, you shot Jamal. Oh, you did this. Oh, you did that.’ And I’m like, ‘No, I didn’t do anything; that’s TV.’ But there is still a large amount of people out there that can’t separate the two.”
Bre-Z tells Deco this role has been a learning experience for her, both professionally and personally.
Chris Van Vliet: “What has Freda done for Bre-Z?”
Bre-Z: “It’s kinda made me just appreciate life, appreciate my relationships more, because we don’t know the road that we’ll travel.”
Bre-Z (as Freda): “Everything I do is me, what you mean we gonna keep it 100 to be.”
Chris Van Vliet: “You don’t have to tell me the exact answer, but do you know how long you’re going to be on the show for?”
Bre-Z: “I don’t know.”
Chris Van Vliet: “Because anything can happen in the ‘Empire’ world.”
Bre-Z: “Anything can happen, but I came in in season 2, got brought back as a series regular for season 3, and we’re still here.”
Chris Van Vliet: “And now season 4 is just around the corner. Will we see you in season 4?”
Bre-Z: “We don’t know yet. I don’t even know what season 4 looks like at this moment.”
Before she hit it big with “Empire,” Bre-Z was living in Atlanta and working as a barber cutting hair for people like Ludacris and Akon.
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