Amber Reign Smith’s latest role furthers her stake in the Tyler Perry cinematic universe.

“I’m really big on intention, energy and manifestation,” Smith told Blavity’s Shadow and Act of her recent role in Tyler Perry’s Joe’s College Road Trip. “So if I was striving to be successful as an actor in my own right, I knew that it was pretty much inevitable if I just did the work. But, I don’t think I knew it would be on this level, like, global recognition on Netflix, the biggest streaming service, working directly with Tyler Perry.”

She added, “I don’t think I could have imagined that it would look like this. You know how they say, ‘Tell God your plans, and he laughs?’ It’s like my plans are two little roses. I’ve been seeing this meme of two little roses, and God’s plan is a huge wall of roses. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the trajectory of my career and blessed beyond measure.”

How her personal life informed her latest Tyler Perry character

Smith first entered the Tyler Perry universe as Rain in the hit Netflix series, Tyler Perry’s Beauty in Black. 

Now, she’s extending her talents to a character named Destiny in Joe’s College Road Trip.

“For me, it was personal because I grew up kind of similar to BJ (Jermaine Harris),” she said. “I was in a magnet school, I was around all types of races growing up, and I honestly didn’t even realize that racism was still a thing until I got to college. So, it’s like I understood both sides of it. Once I was exposed and realized like, hold up, this is still very much going on right now, it was like that anger, that rage, just kicked in.”

“I pulled from both sides, understanding BJ from my lived experience, but also the inner conflict that we carry as Black people knowing the injustices that we face,” Smith continued. “It was important to me from both perspectives.”

Destiny brings real-world truth to the journey in Joe’s College Road Trip

Smith revealed that her character helps to expose the blind spots that both generations have, reflected through Harris’s B.J., and Perry’s Joe.

“She understands the history that Joe knows and he’s showing but not really telling, and then she’s able to give it to B.J. in a way that’s digestible,” Smith said.

Joe’s College Road Trip is now streaming on Netflix.