Wearing an incredibly charming emerald dress (with a smile that showed how beautiful she was inside and out), we caught up with Keesha on set while filming in Los Angeles.

JAM: You’ve had quite a successful acting career in episodic TV, what made you start directing?
KS: I was directing in college, so it's something I have always wanted to do. The other side took over...I love acting and being in front of the camera and on stage, but there's something about being in control of the whole story that was really attractive to me. From the colors you use, the wardrobe, the actors you choose, you are in control.

JAM: And the responsibility for its success falls on you, how to do handle that pressure?
KS: It all falls on you with directing. If the project isn't successful - and maybe the reasons aren't your fault - you have to take the blame.
JAM: What inspires you as a director?
KS: The first episode of TV that I directed was "Are We There Yet," a show I was on, which we did 100 episodes. I treated it like it was school. I shadowed every director and every other position on the crew. As an actor you can come in with blindfolds on, do what you need and go. But I wanted to know every aspect of what I do! The script supervisor is the hardest job to me and I would never have known that if I hadn't shadowed her. I also shadowed four editors and sat in the room with them. If you are thinking about becoming a director that's such an important to do. You need to understand cuts and transitioning to another scene. I ended up directing an episode of that show because they knew I was ready.

JAM: Its a collaborative medium...
KS: It should be!
JAM: You were invited to join the Warner Brothers Directing Workshop?
KS: Listen, I've been in this business for a long time. I did all the things that everybody said I should do. But that workshop, had I not taken that, I won't been as prepared as I was to direct Lethal Weapon.

JAM: That must be a hard show to direct, lots of action!
KS: I was still nervous, but I knew what I was doing, and I knew it because of that workshop.
JAM: What did you do in the workshop?
KS: You get an episode of TV and you start from the beginning from a concept meeting, all the way through. You have to block the episode, shoot, edit... it was a lot of work. But worth every sleepless night. Bethany Rooney and Mary Lou Bella were amazing teachers.
JAM: As an actor how was it directing your fellow costars?
KS: I loved it. I think because there was mutual respect. If I came in unprepared, I may have gotten a different response from them. They would have been polite but behind my back..."This ain't gonna happen again!"...but I came in knowing what I wanted. You can't come in not knowing the answers, or look lost. The cast and crew need to respect you. As a women we can't anyway. We have to be better than great.

JAM: Women in film...what has been your take on it, and how do you think things can improve?
KS: There's a change happening. It's slow, but it is happening. There's a push that needs to happen still...if you say you have two women directors out of ten and that's good...no! I would like to hear half. 50/50 would be nice. But I don't want something BECAUSE I'm a woman, or of color. I want the sex not to matter. And if it didn't matter, I think things would be more even. I think things are moving slowly in that direction, I wish it was moving faster, but you have to give it credit that it IS moving. But I also want to say, it's not fast enough.
JAM: What can we look forward to from you?
KS: I want to direct as much as I want to act. There are times I know I can't - there's an Eartha Kitt project I'm working on, I just want to focus on that character. But I want to do both, write too - I want to do all of it.