I tend to play characters that aren't supposed to black or written black.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I prefer to work with grey characters rather than black and white.
I've never excluded myself because of color. It's never been part of the radar, when I look at anything I do. The majority of the roles that I've played have had very little to do with being black. It doesn't matter what color you are.
I know what's good for me. I can't play black or gray. I can't be a villain or anything close to one. I have to play white.
I tend to have a pattern of playing misunderstood characters.
I'm not a writer; I'm an actor. My job is to take whatever character I'm given and - especially because I have the responsibility of being a black actress, and I know young black girls are looking up, and everyone's looking to what's on television - to just try to give whatever character I'm playing as three-dimensional a portrayal as I can.
I believe black characters in fiction are still revolutionary, given our long history of erasure.
All the characters I play are all inside of me in a way, and they're all different, the darkness, the lightness, whatever that is.
As an ambiguously non-white actor, I've been able to play light-skinned African American guys, Latinos, and I don't think that I've ever had to play some kind of ethnic stereotype or something that was typed specifically for a person of color.
As a very young writer - kindergarten through about fifth grade - I most often wrote about black characters. My very early stories were science fiction and fantasy, with kids stowing away on spaceships and a girl named Tilly who was trying to get into the 'Guinness Book of World Records.'
It's good to play something that's black and white, and a guy that sees right and wrong. I've never played a character like that.