I think the more open-minded people we have - like casting directors and producers - the better things are going to be.
Makeup is cool. I mean, you can turn up and feel really good and treat yourself, but it shouldn't be something you hang on to to validate your beauty or something you have to do to make you feel beautiful.
I started doing amateur theatre and played Rosa Parks at the age of 12 or 13. At 16, I decided it was what I wanted to do.
I didn't see a lot of role models or women who looked like me on screen when I was growing up. For me, one thing that changed all of that was seeing Keke Palmer in 'Akeelah and The Bee.' That film made me realize that I wasn't an alien.
When I came to England, everybody was indoors all the time, and nobody said hello to each other. That was weird.
I needed to take a break from acting, because I really idolized it. So I came off from it, and I went on a journey to discover my relationship with God, and I became a Christian. It really just gave me so much love and light within myself. I felt secure, like I didn't need validation from anyone else, or getting a part.
