Tiffany Haddish says Billy Crystal is the "uncle [she] always wanted".
Tiffany Haddish
The 'Girl's Trip' star developed a friendship with the 73-year-old actor a few years ago and not only did she ask him to attend her bat matzvah in 2019 after she converted to Judaism, she asked him to play a key role in the coming-of-age ceremony.
She said: "I invited Billy to come. And then I was like, ‘Billy, would you be willing to do my Aliyah?’ And he’s like, ‘Yes.’ And I’m like, ‘Yes.’ Like, ‘cause to me, Billy’s like the uncle I always wanted. Like, the family member I needed to, like, help me grow. I feel like I’ve grown so much because of him.”
The pair star together in new movie 'Here Today' and the 'When Harry Met Sally' star - who plays a comedy writer with dementia who bonds with Tiffany's singer character when she wins a charity lunch with him - thinks it's important to see the movie in cinemas so people can share the viewing experience.
He told 'Entertainment Tonight': “We’ve all had experiences. We jumped out of our chairs in ‘Jaws.’
"You know, we, I didn’t take a shower after I saw ‘Psycho’ for, like, nine, 10 months, I took baths standing up. That’s what you want in a movie. You want that moment.
“That’s what I want for ‘Here Today.’ I want them to – I want them to laugh … and I want them to think, ‘what can I do to help somebody if I’m ever in that situation?’”
Tiffany previously explained she was converting to Judaism to "honour" her father, whose father was a Jewish refugee from Eritrea while her mother was an American Jehovah's Witness.
The 40-year-old actress said: "What do you mean you're black and you're having a bat mitzvah, Tiffany?' Well, I don't know if y'all know this about me, but I'm Jewish. I'm Jewish by DNA.
"And because of my father, I want to honour him and our ancestors, and I want to do something that represents growth and maturity. And I want to teach. That's what I've been put on this planet to do is teach, and Judaism is all about that!
"It's my black mitzvah, baby! She grown, and she ready!"
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