Tika Sumpter Feared Fans Would Send Her Hate Mail

Tika Sumpter plays the role of Candace Young on The Haves and the Have Nots, a complicated character who is fun to play but is riddled with flaws. "She started off as an escort and has worked her way up as a pimp," Tika laughs.

Though Candace seems to make one bad decision after the next, there is a source of pain behind her actions. "From the beginning, Candace says she'd never fall in love," Tika explains. "She's definitely opened her heart up a lot more. I think the heartbreak that she has gone through has put her back into her old ways and it's just magnified how she really thinks the world is, which is a cold world for her and that she can only rely on herself."

The Haves and the Have Nots has a loyal fan base, so Tika worried about what the viewers would have to say about her chaos-inducing character. "The moment Candace came on the scene, I was really afraid that fans were going to hate me, that I would get hate mail, that they were going to yell at me," she says.

In fact, Tika found that the opposite happened. "They absolutely love such a flawed character," she says. "I love them for it."

Tune in for the season premiere of The Haves and the Have Nots Tuesday, June 20, at 9/8c.