Taye Diggs 'excited' to host AIDS Walk here
Taye Diggs is coming to Milwaukee, in part because he was embarrassed.
The actor was engaged in the fight against HIV/AIDS before he first made his mark 20 years ago in the Broadway phenomenon "Rent." But in a recent phone interview, he confessed that when he was approached about being honorary chair of this year's AIDS Walk Wisconsin & 5K Run, he had lost sight a little of the disease's continuing impact.
And he believes many of the rest of us have, too.
"It's not quote-unquote topical, it's not as trendy. There aren't hit musicals being written about it," Diggs said. "People find it really easy to lose sight of."
According to the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin — for which AIDS Walk Wisconsin, this year being held Oct. 1 at Maier Festival Park, is a major fundraising event — more than 6,300 people are living with HIV/AIDS in Wisconsin, with another 1,500 undiagnosed but living with the disease. Of those the center's patients with the disease, 89% have "achieved undetectability," meaning they're the healthiest they can be with HIV.
According to the center, 94% of its HIV/AIDS patients who have achieved undetectability live in poverty.
"People are still being challenged. And it's still important to get the word out," Diggs said. "More people are living with HIV in Wisconsin, and that's something that's kind of baffling to me."
Diggs said he's done a number of AIDS-related fundraisers since the success of "Rent," which brought AIDS awareness to the forefront for many theater-goers. But none like leading a 5K walk/run.
"I'm pretty excited about this one," he said. "I've never been to Milwaukee."
One of the reasons he's able to be here this time is that the event fits neatly into his work schedule.
Diggs, who first made the transition from stage to screen in a big way with his appearance in 1998's "How Stella Got Her Groove Back," is in Chicago shooting "Empire," Fox's hip-hop-world drama starting its third season Wednesday at 8 p.m. He joined the show this season as Angelo Dubois, a charismatic city councilman who clashes, at least at first, with the show's resident force of nature, Cookie, played by Emmy winner Taraji P. Henson.
"I have none of the pressure because it's not my show," Diggs said of the experience so far. " … It's been exciting."
Diggs' own show, the TNT crime drama "Murder in the First," ended its third season Sept. 4. So far, he doesn't know if there'll be a fourth — standard procedure, he added.
"We don't know! With each season, we don't know," Diggs said.
In the meantime, he's not waiting around. In addition to "Empire," Diggs has a voice role in the upcoming "My Little Pony: The Movie." Not the kind of work he's done much lately, but it was "kind of fun."
"In this business, it's all about being part of something you haven't done before," he said — adding that the success his ex-wife and "baby mama" Idina Menzel had with "Frozen" was an extra incentive.
Right now, he's getting ready for the event in Milwaukee. Diggs, 45, said he's not a runner, but he'll be "walking at a nice pace."
"After 40, the body's doing something different," he said, laughing.
It's worth the effort, and the trip up from Chicago, if it gets people refocused on fighting AIDS.
"That's why walks such as this are really important, to get people involved and raise awareness," he said. "There's still work to be done."
WALKING THE WALK
AIDS Walk Wisconsin 2016 begins with the 5K run at 10:30 a.m. Oct. 1 at Maier Festival Park. The walk's opening ceremony, with honorary chair Taye Diggs, is at noon, with the walk starting at 12:30 p.m. Registration is free for walkers, $30 for runners; you can register online at aidswalkwis.org or the day of the event starting at 9:30 a.m.