Sitcom Star Beat The Binge

By Glenn Mueller
eDiets Senior Writer

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It may be called The Bernie Mac Show, but Kellita Smith has played a large part in making this Fox series one of the most popular, award-winning shows on television for the past three years. Kellita also happens to be the reason so many male viewers tune in week after week!

On the show, Kellita plays the role of Wanda Mac, Bernie's wife and the female guardian to his sister's children. Her role as the sexy aunt recently earned her an NAACP Image Award nomination for best actress in a comedy.

"I feel warmed and appreciated that my talents are being recognized," Kellita tells eDiets. As for her outrageously funny co-star, she says, "Bernie is fantastic to work with. He always comes to the set ready to play." Kellita says it is also a pleasure to work on a cast where three of the leading characters are children. "When children act, they have to be born to do it," she says. "Fortunately, these kids were. They really get it."

Now, this popular television actress is taking her talents to the big screen. Kellita has leading roles in two upcoming features. In Beauty Shop, she and Mo'Nique play estranged sisters who come together for the common cause of money, and, ultimately, for the love of family as well. Kellita will also be starring opposite Anthony Anderson in King's Ransom, a film she describes as "a kind of Boomerang meets The War of the Roses."

Kellita didn't fall into fame. Before landing the role on The Bernie Mac Show, she had recurring roles on Martin, The Jamie Foxx Show, Sister, Sister, Malcolm & Eddie and Nash Bridges. Her previous film credits also include Kingdom Come, The Crossing Guard and House Party III.

Believe it or not, this sexy actress whose sizzling photos have graced the pages of Maxim's Stuff and Esquire admits that she once struggled with emotional eating. In fact, Kellita lost a substantial amount of weight between the second and third seasons of The Bernie Mac Show. Low-carbohydrate eating was the secret to her weight loss, but she says she tried to stay realistic to what she could handle.

"In the past, I have been too extreme," she says. "Then, I would binge, and it would all be over. This time, I tried to make healthy eating a way of life."

Though she didn't follow a particular diet plan, Kellita limited her intake of complex carbohydrates. She did suffer cravings for bread, which she satisfied by eating a less-refined form of wheat bread known as spelt. "Sometimes you just need to chew on bread," she says.

Though she had to stop eating french fries and pancakes, Kellita still maintains a passion for her favorite food: birthday cake. "Now, I have it as an occasional indulgence," she says. "A slice of white cake with butter cream icing is my favorite."

Kellita stays in shape with an active lifestyle. She does an hour of Pilates and an hour of spinning at least three days a week… five if her schedule permits. "Being active just makes me feel better," she says. "I have to get that side of me out. She needs to live."

Other hobbies include fencing, tennis and Tae Kwon Do. "When I was an unemployed artist, I had to keep my sanity," Kellita says. "The martial arts helped me keep focused and center into something." Fortunately for her fans, it doesn't look like Kellita will be unemployed again anytime soon.

"Though I'm more established in television, I also enjoy working in film because it is more internal," she says. "Those subtle moments really come across on the big screen."

Her first love remains the stage. Smith won an NAACP Theater Award for Best Supporting Actress in The Hudson Theater production of Feelings. "There is just nothing like live theater," she says. "I try to do it every summer. I am itching to do a one-woman show."

Kellita used her theater training to benefit the Women of Essence Breast Cancer Support Group. "This is an organization that fell in my lap," she says. "I hosted a luncheon for them three years ago." Kellita says she really connected with the warrior spirit that many of these women had. "I got the idea from The Vagina Monologues to put some of their stories on stage," she says. Through her stage benefit, Smith raised $20,000 for the group in one night.

Kellita has also founded her own production company, Strange Fruit, to cultivate film and theater projects.

Our featured celebrity was born in Chicago, raised in Oakland and currently resides in Los Angeles, where she just purchased a new home. She still maintains strong ties to Oakland though. "All of my family and friends are in Oakland," she says.

In spite of her increasingly demanding schedule, Kellita stays motivated to work out and eat healthy. "I'm addicted to the results," she says. "I still have the addictive personality, but I have changed the addictions. I guess I am growing up."

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