Derwin is still missed. Although the actor that plays him, Pooch Hall, has moved on to a new show “Ray Donovan” on Showtime, playing the biracial love child of Sheryl Lee Ralph and Jon Voight, “The Game” is still very much a part of his past. It’s the show that made him famous, though neither he nor Tia Mowry-Hardict, who played Melanie, returned for Season 6. Though it’s normal for people to move on from shows for another opportunity, Hall has had to repeatedly set the record straight on exactly how his departure came about.
“For the record, I didn’t get fired. I didn’t walk away,” Hall told The Tom Joyner Morning Show. “My contract came up, I promise you. We were negotiating and we just couldn’t come up with a number. So my team said we’re going to send you out [on auditions]. I literally just got back from New York, I think I did “Rip the Runway” and I booked “Ray Donovan” the next day. “
Hall says the Showtime series knew about his commitment to BET and was willing to let him do both shows, even potentially discussing Voight appearing on “The Game” as well. But according to Hall, BET took so long responding to his agent, that he had to move forward.
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“I never quit, and this is what I want people to understand. When “The Game” first got cancelled I got another job on “Accidentally on Purpose.” I made a deal and when “Accidentally on Purpose” g0t cancelled, I had two years where I could work over there. I believe everyone else got three. We were trying to work on the numbers and we couldn’t’ agree and my team said we’re sending him out and I literally booked “Ray Donovan” a week [later].
And then Showtime was like – it’s cable so they can do things differently – I can still do “The Game.” I told [my agent] ‘I’ll take the deal [at BET].’ They never returned my agent’s phone calls or emails for a long time. I couldn’t understand it. I’ve never done anything wrong over there. It’s all good. I think I’m where I’m supposed to be.”
Though the two actors once described themselves as “brothers from another mother” the relationship between Hall and actor Hosea Chanchez, who plays Malik on “The Game:” has apparently cooled. The two were caught up in a Twiter beef earlier this year when Chanchez, who is not a regular on Twitter, responded to what he felt were negative tweets from Hall about his departure from “The Game.” You can read that exchange in its entirely here.
“I just want to say also I have no problem with Hosea,” Hall said. “I never said anything negative about BET. The stuff happened when Tia left and she put out the statement that she wasn’t returning and the fans went crazy. With that being said, I wasn’t sure where I stood because I hadn’t heard back from them. I was talking to Mara (Brock Akil, creator of “The Game”) giving her the updates on “Ray Donovan” but we still had no deal in place. The only thing I did was retweet what the fans were saying to BET like ‘don’t mess this up.’”
Hall’s move to ‘Ray Donovan” seems like a good one, regardless as the show, about a Hollywood fixed played by Live Schreiber who has some serious daddy issues with his ex-con father played by Voight has already been picked up for a second season. Catch it on Showtime Sunday nights at 10 p.m.
