Playing It Cool

"Once you play a mother you will always be a mother," Tichina tells Watch, referencing her former role on Everybody Hates Chris, but noting this is her first time playing a mother of grown-up sons. Happily, though, "It's television," she says. "And I can be whoever I want to be."

Textural Tapestry

Describing Cedric the Entertainer, aka The Neighborhood's Calvin Butler, as "a wonderful human being" who is both empathic and respectful, Tichina asserts that "the show has that texture to it because he is a good leader."

Platform Perfection

"What I love about being on the show is that we continue communication." — Tichina Arnold

Character Driven

"Everybody's like their characters [in real life]," Tichina Arnold tells Watch in her November-December 2020 cover story, a nod to The Neighborhood's creator Jim Reynolds' vision. But she also appreciates Reynolds' openness to her own take on Tina's MO. "Jim will ask me, 'Tichina, do Black women do this?' And I'll tell him 'abso-friggin-lutely not.' You see her flaws and Cedric makes sure of it."

Bold Choices

"It's a natural human instinct," Arnold says of the moment earlier this season when some fans were unhappy with the showrunners' choice to address Black Lives Matter. "You don't want to be uncomfortable," she observes. "But it's what we do with our being uncomfortable. I'm happy that we have a platform."

Attitude Of Gratitude

"I'm grateful that I can be a part of a body of work that understands me as a Black woman in America and that actually displays me as a Black woman in America. We have a long way to go in understanding each other, and The Neighborhood really addresses that." — Tichina Arnold

Story Time

Tichina Arnold tells Watch that she and costar Beth Behrs often share their stories with each other off-camera, and the desire to understand each other's perspectives is more than mutual: "Trust me, I ask questions. You learn till the day you die. That's what matters to me."

Spiritual Being

"We came up really staunch Christians," Arnold says of growing up with her now-manager sister Zenay. "Me being in show business," she laughs, "I was kind of the heathen."

As Good As Gold

"Cedric's always been such a wonderful human being, and the show has that temperature."— Tichina Arnold

The Natural

A natural actor who "did shows for free" in her early life, Arnold tells Watch that didn't change till she moved to L.A. "I was like, 'Omigod, I got to depend upon this?!'" Prior to that moment, she says, "I was just doing what I love doing."

Creative Integrity

"I've been at a point where I didn't have two nickels to rub together, and still I turned down work because I did not believe in what that piece of work was. I didn't want to wake up every day doing that." — Tichina Arnold

Big Moments

"I laugh at moments, not episodes," Arnold says when asked by our writer if she sees herself as having nailed a particular Neighborhood episode. "I don't think I've ever said, Oh, I nailed anything. I'm not interested in watching myself."

Rules Of Engagement

When it comes to managing her substantial social media presence, Tichina Arnold admits she's careful about being misconstrued, and makes sure her followers know when she's joking. "I never have a cocktail and tweet. And if I know that it's really, really socially edgy, I'll ask my sister, 'Should I?'"

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Watch all-new episodes of The Neighborhood on Mondays at 8/7c on CBS and CBS All Access.