‘Ain’t Too Proud’ actor finds his own story in Eddie Kendricks
Jalen Harris was not intimately familiar with the history of the Temptations or Eddie Kendricks, who he’s been portraying in the musical “Ain’t Too Proud” for the past couple of years.
But the Memphis native has found parallels and similarities that make him feel like, “I’m playing his life in a way that mirrors my own” — including Harris’ ambitions as a singer in his own right.
“I’m a Memphis guy,” says Harris, 28, who grew up in a city whose Stax-Volt and Hi Records labels complemented and competed with the Temptations’ home of Motown. “Being in a city where blues and gospel and rock ‘n’ roll run the city, my love for that sound was just in my DNA.
“And learning about Motown, learning about all of the incredible artists and groups that were there — including the Tempts — and learning where they came from, I felt like the journey they had is so similar to my journey, now it’s just another part of who I am.”
Harris comes from a musical family; his father plays saxophone and both of his brothers play instruments. He grew up singing in church and in talent shows before getting into musical theater as a freshman in high school. At 15 he was a contestant on “American Idol,” which Harris calls a defining moment.
“It was so interesting because I found people like me, other teenagers like me,” he recalls. “Going to a small Christian private school I felt so different from everyone, so to be in that space where I felt like, ‘This is my tribe. I belong here!’ was amazing. It was like, ‘Oh, this is where I belong. I see myself in this world for the rest of my life.”
Harris made his first recording when he was 16, but his big break came as he graduated high school; foregoing college he began taking acting classes and signed with an agent, and within a year — in addition to modeling — he was cast as Simba in the touring production of Disney’s “The Lion King.” “I was giving myself a few years, and it just took off,” Harris says. “I knew I was very young in my knowledge. I knew (‘The Lion King’) was going to prepare me for (the future). I acquired so much wisdom from the people I was around, so many lessons to expand my skills.
“It was an all-around transformative experience at a young age.”
And “Ain’t Too Proud” — based on sole surviving original member Otis Williams’ 1988 memoir and written by Detroiter Dominque Morisseau — was the next step, allowing Harris to portray “the tenor of all tenors.” A fellow Southerner (from Alabama), Kendricks sang lead on Temptations hits such as “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” “Get Ready” and “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me”) before leaving the group in 1971. (He passed away in 1992 at the age of 52, from lung cancer).
“I love being able to tell (the Temptations) story,” he says. “I love being part of such a historical legacy and that we get to carry the Temptations sound, the Motown sound, into a next generation.
“And I’m so thankful I get to sing these songs, not only because of the message and the way