Atlanta is 'more than the Waffle House,' says Keshia Knight Pulliam

"That's pretty much what happened. Oh, my goodness, I'm telling my age. I think it was '97 (when) I entered school. I've always loved the city of Atlanta."

Sicha: What is this Atlanta scene? Everybody lives there!

Knight Pulliam: I know, it's kind of crazy! It wasn't like that at first.

Sicha: Is it like, everywhere you go, you run into Usher's wife and Sheree Whitfield from "Real Housewives"?

Knight Pulliam: The one thing about Atlanta is you can have your little niche and do your own thing. But if you go to certain events you run into that whole contingent. It's changed a lot — there's a lot more than the Waffle House.

Sicha: And then there's the Tyler Perry compound.

Knight Pulliam: Mmm hmm. He has an absolutely wonderful studio. It's the only thing like it probably in the South! It's huge. It's beautiful.

Sicha: Everyone always says he's like the nicest, sweetest guy in the world. That's so boring!

Knight Pulliam: I mean, he is wonderful to work with, I must say. I think the thing I definitely appreciate — he's wonderful and all this — but the thing I'm most intrigued by and want to learn most is his great sense of business. He's turned this whole Tyler Perry thing into such a great brand, from pretty much nothing into this whole empire. Of course he's a nice guy and wonderful to work with, but he has a tremendous business mind.

Sicha: White Hollywood is slowly catching up to that.

Knight Pulliam: Yeah. He's kind of come in out of nowhere and has kind of done it in a formula that's all his own. And you have to respect that. He had a vision and no matter how many naysayers, he made that happen — no matter what color you are. At the end of the day, green is only one color.

The reporter asked Knight Pulliam about Karl Rove, President Bush's chief political adviser from 1994 through 2007, and his comment about the Obamas and the Huxtables.

On election night Rove said on Fox News: "We've had an African-American first family for many years in different forms. When 'The Cosby Show' was on, that was America's family. It wasn't a black family. It was America's family."

Said Knight Pulliam:

"What the show did was show how much more we were alike. "The Cosby Show" - no one thought there's doctors and lawyers who are married and live in brownstones! Back then no one would have thought we would have an African American president. They would have laughed in your face."