‘All American’ Star and Author Taye Diggs Explains How Reading ‘Saved’ Him (Exclusive)

Taye Diggs is known for appearing in notable films such as The Best Man, The Wood and Chicago. Currently, Diggs can be seen in the hit CW series All American playing the role of Coach Billy Baker. But the 51-year-old actor is making a name for himself in the literature world as he has written five children’s books. PopCulture.com recently caught up with Diggs who revealed how reading is a big part of his life. 

“I can only speak from my own personal experience, and I’ve been telling people reading kind of saved me because I was very kind of stereotypically nerdy and not part of the popular groups when I was coming up,” Diggs exclusively told PopCulture. “So the times when everybody else was being social, I was forced to read. And that really helped me kind of grow and work on my imagination so that when I did become introduced to acting and singing and dancing, all of the things that kind of set me apart when I was coming up, I was able to thrive and then appreciate and focus on that magic. So I think it’s very important.”     

Diggs also talked about his latest book, which is called My Friend! He said the book “talks about just the importance of being there for a friend and realizing that there can be ups and downs. A friend not only supports you but is there to kind of remind you if you are perhaps going off course and without being judgemental. It’s great to be able to lean on friends to help us find our way back to our true selves, so we kind of focus that.”

Due to his love to read and being an author, Diggs has partnered with Lucky Charms to help promote a new book called The Magic Inside. The book will be available on Lucky Charm’s website on Feb. 26, and Diggs will debut the book on Mar. 2 (National Read Across American Day) in a live read-along on the Lucky Charms Instagram Page. 

“We’re trying to create new family traditions, just also we’re coordinating with St. Patty’s Day,” Diggs said. “So that’ll be fun as well. The message that I just wanted to remind everybody, which we hit on in this lovely book, is that there’s a uniqueness in being different.”