‘The Cosby Show’ actress revealed that she often shut down and “internalized” everything she was feeling about her mixed-race and landing roles. She said it best when she said that the world just “wasn’t ready.”
But even today, Zoë finds herself dealing with the same types of issues. The actress questioned why it seems as though “stories can only happen to white people and everyone else is a punchline.”
Mom and Dad
Like her own daughter, Bonet was born into the world of entertainment. That’s because her father, Allen, was a successful opera singer. But she shares something else with her daughter’s childhood, and that’s that her parents divorced when she was young, as well.
After the split, Bonet mainly stayed with her mother, Arlene, in Los Angeles. Although she spent some time growing up in New York, too. But when Arlene passed away, in 1998, Lisa lived with her father full time.
Black and White
Bonet has openly spoken up about her experience growing up mixed in a different day and age. Even today, actors and actresses in Hollywood fight against typecasting and stereotypes, such as Zoë revealed in her quest to audition for 'The Dark Knight'.
Apparently, she wasn’t allowed to try out for the role because filmmakers didn’t want to go in an “urban” direction. And Bonet’s experience wasn’t much different, yet she also at points felt uneasy, even around her mother’s side of the family.
Seriously Crushing
But even though Bonet may have faced these issues in existing as who she was, that didn’t mean that she wasn’t still extremely popular with an enormous fan base. In fact, one of those fans in particular just so happens to be the man she ended up marrying. Her playing Denise on the show led to an 8-year old Jason Momoa discovering his future wife.
The actor knew immediately, even at such a young age, that he wanted to end up with her. He claims to have even pointed at the TV and told his mother, “I want that one.” And he wasn’t going to quit until he made his dreams into his reality – and that’s exactly what he did, once given the opportunity to connect with his dream girl.
Lilakoi
Just a couple of years after her divorce from Lenny Kravitz, in 1995, Bonet made the interesting choice to legally change her name. She went to the courthouse and signed all of the paperwork to become Lilakoi Moon. As far as the credits for her on TV, however, she continued to use her more recognizable (former) name.
When asked about why she decided to make the switch at all, she said it was because of “privacy reasons.”