Set your DVRs, because Coco Gauff will make her primetime television debut next week. The teenage sensation will guest star on the next episode of “All American: Homecoming.”
A spinoff of the critically acclaimed “All American” series, a sports drama series inspired by the life of former NFL player Spencer Paysinger that follows high school athletes in Beverly Hills as they navigate coming-of-age issues, racism and class struggles, “All American: Homecoming” follows Simone Hicks, played by actress Geffri Hightower.
In the spinoff, Hightower’s character leaves L.A. to attend the fictional Bringston University, a historically Black college in Atlanta — coincidentally, Gauff’s real-life hometown — where she decides to pursue her dreams of being a pro tennis player.
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Gauff teased her appearance in a Twitter post from the BNP Paribas Open this week. While she gave no details of her role or character, Monday’s episode, titled “Stand Up for Something,” teases that “Simone and the Bringston tennis team work together to make the biggest decision of their season.”
“I didn’t realize how many times you have to do a scene over and over and over again,” Gauff said. “Drills in tennis are repetitive, but I think that’s even more repetitive.
“It was cool. I would do it again because of the people I met, but I don’t think I would do it again because of the work. But if I can meet cool people, yeah, I would keep doing it. Huge respect to all the actors, people in that business. It’s definitely not as easy as it seems on the TV.”
The crossover continued on Tuesday in Indian Wells, as Camille Hyde, who portrays tennis prodigy Thea Mays on the show, was on hand at the WTA 1000 event to watch Gauff beat Rebecca Peterson in the fourth round.
Earlier this week in Indian Wells, ahead of her 19th birthday, Gauff shed some light on how she’s “living her dream,” but also revealed that, sometimes, she’s more comfortable away from the cameras.
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“I guess the on-court part is glamorous in a way, yes,” Gauff said. “Off court, I always tell people my life is boring. That’s part of the reason why I’ve never done any, I guess, filming or any of that, like behind-the-scenes stuff. I literally just don’t leave my room sometimes.
“I enjoy this kind of balance of being extroverted in certain situations and introverted…