Chrystale Opens Up About Her Harrowing Life Story

Many people know House of Healing guest Chrystale as the villain from the 1998 movie The Players Club. What they probably don't know, however, is that the life of this 46-year-old actress has been one of brokenness and acting out, involving drug dealers and even a kidnapping.

Here, Chrystale opens up about her life story, shedding light on the experiences that have led her to engage in the inappropriate behavior that gets her labeled as an angry black woman. It all began, Chrystale says, before she was even born.

"My great-grandmother always told my mom [that] my dad was too black, so I would come out too ugly, that I would have nappy hair, that I would have big lips," she says. "My mother is black, but she looks white. So, that's what I was born into."

With this as the backdrop to her childhood, Chrystale entered her teenage years with additional difficulties. She lived with her mother, then lived with her father, and then with her mother again before accepting the hospitality of a drug dealer. "Every girl wanted him, and he wanted me," Chrystale says. "To me, that was just so big because I felt like nobody wanted me up until that point."

When the drug dealer ended up in jail, Chrystale tried to help him pay for his attorneys by going on a drug run for other dealers. That's when things went from bad to worse.

"One of the guys said that it was a better idea if they just kept me and beat my ass, and told them to send money for my ransom or they would kill me," she says.

Chrystale felt more alone than ever.

"I didn't have a dad to call. I didn't have a brother to call. I didn't have any black men that I could call on," she says. "So, I think what you perceive as anger is hurt. It's betrayal. It's being let down. It's abuse."

Another moment on Chrystale's journey:
Chrystale releases years of anger toward her mother in an emotional breakthrough