The fact that I'm being cast in a show to play a female lead and I'm the dark-skinned Black woman with short hair, it's so incredible.
I read the 'Nightflyers' novella and knowing that it was something that had been written by George R.R. Martin, knowing how those stories kind of go, I was really curious to see what happened to my character in the source material.
I watched the Sandra Bland documentary and her tape itself over and over and over and over again, and just the reality of that, the fear in that.
I am deeply moved by sculptures of powerful women.
I think there's always been a little performer in me. But having a family that are Jamaican immigrants, having this idea that, 'Oh, that's what you're going to do for a living?' seems kind of out of reach and not a reality. It's like, 'get a real job.'
No offense to anybody from Pittsburgh, but Pittsburgh wasn't for me.
What I love about my parents and Jamaican families is that exuberance we have, which I think is where I get my joy from, my energy and my attitude.
I think about what I grew up seeing, what I didn't see growing up, and what it felt like when I did see someone who I thought that I could relate to, just living their life on screen.
I went to business school so what they teach you in business school was that success is about positioning yourself to get lucky. It's not just about how hard you work. It is also about a little bit of luck. To position yourself to catch the luck when it comes.
While I might not have a specific experience that is fully American, there is still a knowledge, something that I logically understand as a black woman and a black woman who is existing in America and a black woman who is in the diaspora that are just known quantities that I think anyone can relate to who is black.
It's a very complicated relationship that I have with America. I love it so much. And I also see the places where it's flawed.
