Anthony Anderson is taking his mother with him where ever he goes, he said in an interview with TODAY.
He and his mother, Doris Hancox Bowman, better known as Mama Doris, co-host gameshow "To Tell The Truth" on ABC — and the adventures don't stop there. They left for Europe Oct. 1 to film an E! reality show called “Anthony Anderson and Mom: European Vacation.”
Not everyone is able to mix work and family, but Anderson, 52, said the process has been rewarding for a few reasons.
"I embraced it because I realized years ago that the network could write a much bigger check to my mother than I could," he joked.
"Just being her authentic self, the sky’s the limit for her."
On a more serious note, Anderson said, "I embrace it because this is what my mother wanted to do as a kid growing up. She wanted to be an entertainer. Unfortunately for her, she's a horrible actress, so it never happened, and she will tell you that.
"But because of my success in this game, and the relationships that I've built, I'm able to give my mother the opportunity that she never got. Now that she's at a certain age, she's comfortable in the skin that she's in, and just being who she is. Just being her authentic self, the sky's the limit for her."
The "Black-ish" star said "it's exciting" to get to see his mother "live her dream and become a star in her own right."
Their game show features a panel of celebrity judges who try to guess which contestant is lying. The "Law and Order" actor said the differences in how he and his mother approach hosting is what makes the show a hit.
"I think that's the great dynamic of the show: two different generations who lived in the same household and grew up with one another, and different points of view. It's in the show — my responses versus her responses, in the way that she interacts with our celebrity panelists and our guests on the show versus the way that I do ... We embrace it. We disagree. We have our fun. We have our fights."
Lying and getting caught is embedded in the show's format. Anderson recalled a time in his own life when he lied to his mom and she found out.
"My mother put me in piano lessons. But we didn't have a piano at home for me to practice on. So I ordered a baby grand piano on my mother's credit card and had it delivered to the house. And I tried to play dumb when the piano arrived. That was a lie that she really caught me in.
"I paid the price for that one," he said, shaking his head. "Let's just say she tied me to an avocado tree in the backyard and had her way with me."
Anderson said he also got in a lot of trouble for having a smart mouth growing up.
"My mouth is what got me in trouble. Even though my mouth is what made me who I am today in this industry, but my mouth is what got me in trouble. Just talking back, having a smart mouth and just saying whatever came to mind."
Anderson said his mom still criticizes him about his mouth, which confuses him — because he said he gets it from her.
"In my defense, that's how I was raised," he said. “Mom, I get it from you. And now that we’ve been working together for almost a decade, I can’t help but continue to be who I am because of you."
They take a different approach to outspokenness.
"She nags me about speaking my mind, when she speaks her mind. So I really don’t understand that. She says ‘Boy, you shouldn’t be saying that about them people.’ I was like, ‘well, Mama, you said it too.’ She said, ‘Yeah, but I ain’t say it to they face. You said it to they face.’ I was like, ‘Well you told me never to talk about people behind their back," he said.
Their professional endeavors gives them ample opportunity to playfully nag each other, Anderson said. But more than that, he loves the fact they can both be their authentic selves and it's celebrated.
"It's only strengthened our relationship. We get to work together, we get to play together, we get to make money together, we get to travel the world together. We just get to be our authentic selves and that's what the audience wants. They resonate with me and my mother and our relationship being the way that it is," he said.
He joked that his mom has gone "a 'lil Hollywood" amid her success. "I have to keep her in check,” he said. “But I went a ‘lil Hollywood early in my career as well. It’s hard not to be intoxicated by the success that comes along with it, the fame and the success."
Even in Anderson's free time outside of work, his mother's influence is still present. Anderson said that 10 years ago, he joined a community garden in L.A. and has a 1,000 square foot garden plot there, turning his own soil and building his own raised garden boxes.
“It really started as my place of Zen where I would just go and get away from the family, get away from the industry and just become one with nature and just work with the earth with my bare hands and grow food that I would eat from seeds. And it was a beautiful, cathartic thing to do for me,” he said.
Anderson said the hobby goes back to his upbringing. "My mother had a green thumb. Growing up in Compton, she would grow collard greens, squash, zucchini lettuce, tomatoes and things like that. That's where my love of gardening started — I got it from my mom and my dad. My dad was from Little Rock, Ark. grew up on the farm, youngest of 16 children. Gardening comes second nature to me and my family.”
Amid outdoor time, Anderson said he sometimes struggles with allergies.
"I didn't get allergies until 10, 12 years ago, when I was in New Mexico filming a project on a golf course playing. And everything started to close up on me," he said. "I felt like I was being choked out. And ever since then, I’ve been taking Zyrtec and it’s just been working wonders for me and for my allergies."
Not letting allergies keep him down gives Anderson more time to garden and continue working with his mother, just how he likes it.
"I'm definitely a mama's boy," he said. "I embrace that. I don't run from that at all."