I've realized that I am very rarely honest. Outside of my family, I am very rarely honest when I step outside of the door.
I feel like I present the way I need to present in order to survive and feel like I can navigate.
In my head, racism was an issue that needed to be fixed by the racists. Like you needed to convince that person one at a time rather than a systemic thing that needs a whole group effort.
The scary thing is that I sometimes think, 'Oh, I've won a Bafta. This could be the top of the precipice.'
I come from an educated family, but we were poor.
I feel middle-class, but my family had to start from scratch. There was no inheritance from a great-aunt. It feels like a slog.
I've always been quite scared about talking about race. You don't wanna rock the boat because you want to keep working.
I think, for me, just trying to be the 'non-threatening black woman,' constantly being, like, super-bubbly! And relatable! It takes a lot of energy! The energy you have to put into playing into the system of white supremacy, so that you can be just given a chance.
I honestly never wanted to come to America. It wasn't part of my goal as an actor.
I definitely think things are changing... I thought I would never be cast on network TV in America and here I am, cast on network TV - and not skinny!
I don't just have the patriarchy to compete with. I have systemic racism and white supremacy and inequality to compete with.
I don't think I've ever sought revenge, actually.
Christine Bottomley and Navin Chowdhry were really fun to work with.
If I was to go around as a white woman, a white man, an Asian woman, an Asian man... the world would just respond to you so differently because of your outward form, right?
I don't think revenge is necessarily a good emotion to explore, personally.
I dropped chemistry because there was a cute boy, and I figured out if I dropped chemistry, I would be in his drama class.
I would say my first big break would've been 'Moses Jones.' That was the first time I had a lead.
I go into every audition and I come out and I say, 'I did my best.'
I was always treated older than I am when I was a kid, so I had to be like, 'No, I'm sweet,' and this has continued into adulthood because of the way society portrays Black women.
Until 'Lovecraft Country' feels like a show where people go, 'Is that how the world used to be?' we do need to talk about it and make art about it, because sadly, it's not history yet.
