Beyoncé
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Monday was a good time for Michael Ealy to chat with Speakeasy, because he had the afternoon off from an independent movie he’s filming in Nashville. As an actor, Ealy’s everywhere these days, playing the possibly devious new law partner in the CBS hit, “The Good Wife,” and the boyfriend of David Duchovny’s baby mama on Showtime’s “Californication.” He has also been cast as the lead in a USA Network comedy pilot, “Common Law,” about two mismatched police partners. And this Friday, he opens in Tyler Perry’s film adaptation of the 1975 stage hit “For Colored Girls,” playing a deeply troubled war veteran. He has taken less taxing roles as the love interest in two videos, Mariah Carey’s 2005 “Get Your Number” and last year’s “Halo,” with Beyonce. “Beyonce—she’s Beyonce!” he explains his motivation. “Once I heard the song, I had to do it. It was my second time being asked to do a Beyonce video. The first was ‘Irreplaceable”’ –where the singer explains that her lover is indeed replaceable—“but I didn’t want to do that. I said, ‘Call me when you have a hero role.’” Well, it doesn’t get much more heroic—or angelic—than “Halo,” although Ealy says that “the original video wasn’t so fluffy. People weren’t sure what it meant. And Beyonce said, My audience is young, this is too dark for them. “So I got another day of hanging around Beyonce,” he continues. “Poor me. How many men can say they have stood three inches from Beyonce and had her sing for them? I was like, THANK YOU!”