Unle❤️sh for Love is a new scripted rom-com executive produced by Kevin Hart and Charlemagne Tha God that takes a fresh look at one woman’s search for her happily ever after. Created by Serita Wesley and actor Alesha Reneé, the stellar full cast is led by Reneé, with Pretty Vee, Logan Browning, and cameos from Jasmine Guy and Kadeem Hardison of A Different World fame. After laughing my way through an early listen of all eight episodes, I was thrilled to ask Wesley and Reneé about their hilarious, semi-autobiographical take on dating and reality TV.

Audible: Serita, we heard from our friends here at Audible that you and Alesha are real-life friends who created this show together. Can you share with our listeners more about the origin story of Unle❤️sh for Love?

Serita Wesley: Unle❤️sh for Love is a somewhat of a joint autobiographical take on where Alesha and I were professionally and personally back in 2015. Failed relationships, disappointments in career, and difficult, but necessary growth. The show was therapeutic for both of us to develop and gave us an opportunity to laugh at a lot of our pain. We know first hand that many others out there can relate to it, which is why we are so excited to bring it everyone on Audible.

Alesha, are there any personal experiences that you and your character share?

Alesha Reneé: Lord yes, sadly! LOL! The characters have different names because some are a reflection of actual people and experiences in my life and people I knew. The dates are a compilation of what Serita, myself and some mutual girlfriends have experienced. I think the beautiful thing about Unle❤️sh is that honestly we all—men and women—know what it’s like to want it all…to try to balance and fail, to be just this side of successful. This project was therapeutic because we got to explore what could happen if we just took chance into our own hands and just made shit happen!

Serita, you have an amazing full cast that includes Pretty Vee, Logan Browning, Jasmine Guy, Kadeem Hardison, and so many more. Tell us how this cast came together.

SW: The cast is a diverse mash up of talented actors, comedians and TV legends! It was a collaborative effort from our casting team and producers and we felt so lucky that everyone we reached out to said “yes!”. Our executive producers Kevin Hart and Charlamagne Tha God were incredibly supportive. Char introduced us to Pretty Vee and we had our “Melissa.” Alesha was able to bring “Teddy” to life through her long-time friendship with Lamorne Morris, her relationship with Logan Browning gave us our “Candi,” and her friend Nina Parker presented us with a fabulous “Liza.” And of course, through Kevin we connected with Na’im Lynn and Will “Spank” Horton from The Plastic Cup Boyz. There are a ton of other fun cameos and hilarious actors that joined the cast, but having Jasmine Guy and Kadeem Hardison play Alesha's parents was truly a dream come true! A lot of lines in the script were inspired by their characters on A Different World, and hearing them say the words I wrote is unreal honestly.

Alesha, what was the recording process like? Were you able to record with your fellow cast members?

AR: It was really dope to be able to work with some of the actors in the same studio and vibe off each other. It was also challenging because since I co-created these characters I was super invested in their portrayal. But as a fellow actor I needed to give the actors their creative space to bring these characters to life in a manner that felt real and grounded to them. Since the female relationships are at the core of our show, I’m thankful that for the scenes that were heavy and emotional, the three of us—me, Logan, and Vee—were able to record in the same space so we could give each other that energy needed for a good performance.

Alesha, you have stared in multiple TV series and movies. Did your approach to performing Unle❤️sh for Love change at all given this is an audio-only experience?

AR: Yea, it did. It felt as though I really wanted to focus on the weight of each word, because with audio the audience can’t see the emotion in your face so it was just about reminding myself they need to hear it in my voice, and to trust that.

Serita, what do you hope listeners take away from this series?

SW: Over the past 7 years, Unle❤️sh for Love has evolved in so many ways and has gone through so many phases, but the one thing that still stands true is that everyone still wants love. Love in all forms is what the show is a reflection of. Self love, romantic love, parental love, friendship love, loving your career, and so much more. The project centers around love and I hope the listeners feel that as well.