Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Boris Kodjoe is teaching his kids how to give back! In a new interview with Kevin Frazier, the Station 19 actor was joined by his kids, Nicolas and Sophie, and opened up about what they’re doing to help in the fight against COVID-19. The trio, along with Kodjoe’s wife, Nicole Ari Parker, have launched the #HelpOurHeroes campaign — for every Gymwrap mask sold, they donate some to first responders.
“We’ve given away almost half a million masks to essential workers so far,” Kodjoe shared. “To the real heroes of this country.”
Nicolas added, “There’s people who help you out, such as bus drivers, medical workers, construction workers, sanitation workers, so we’re giving back to that circle.”
Clearly, Kodjoe’s kids are all grown up, and while speaking to 360aproko, they joked about some of the funny (and awkward!) conversations they’ve had with the family now that they’re teenagers.
“I’m friends with a few guys and they’re all scared of him,” Sophie said. “Yeah, they are all scared of him. Like, even at school, when he would come just to pick me up early, they would all be terrified and just go tense. But I am like, he is not a scary person if you get to know him.”
Kodjoe, meanwhile, slightly joked that “it’s scary” to see his kids grow up. “It’s really scary. You raise them every single day. You don’t think about it. You just do your best, and then they become these real humans with real opinions and they start challenging your authority,” he relayed.
However, Kodjoe said that, hands-down, the “highlight” of his day is getting the family together for dinner, especially right now with everything that’s going on in the world. He said he loves this special time together because it allows them to talk about a wide range of topics.
“Family dinner really is the highlight of our day,” the actor shared. “We cook and we sit together and we talk about all kinds of stuff. The world is crazy right now, so there’s plenty of stuff to talk about, but it’s really a beautiful time, 6, 7 o’clock at night, when we get together and enjoy the food.”
Sophie added, “I also love baking,” explaining that she’s perfected a couple of her grandmother’s recipes. “My grandma, she always gives me new recipes or shows me different ways to perfect old recipes, which I also love doing.”
As for Kodjoe’s ABC series, Station 19, the season 4 premiere has yet to be determined as the cast patiently await when it will be safe to get back to production.
“I don’t have a start date yet, they said end of August. I’m not sure if that’s going to happen based on our situation right now,” Kodjoe said of when they will get back to work. “I really, really wish that people would smarten up and put on their masks, wash their hands and stay away from large crowds.”
The actor also added that there will potentially be a COVID-19 storyline when they get back to work. “That’s going to be part of our narrative, you know, wearing masks and being physically distant — and so that becomes a storyline in the next season,” he noted. “But I don’t have a start date yet based on our situation right now.”
