Sometimes survival seems like submitting. And that's really hard on the spirit.

Even though the topic [of slavery] itself is the big, screaming elephant in the room, we still get a chance to have fun and enjoy what is on the screen, and we have moments where we're actually happy.

The introduction of Harriet Tubman is going to be very exciting, she's a real life superhero so for us to be able to feature her this season is groundbreaking for a television series.

When my brother was a child, he kept telling my mom he wanted to be in the box. She didn't get it - he was two or three years old and kept saying he wanted to be in the box. She finally realized he was talking about the television.

Because sometimes listening to something will connect to a feeling, it will allow you to emote subconsciously, and you don't even understand why you're in it.

Even afterwards when you go through a scene and then step off, sometimes you need a minute to just decompress.

I was homeschooled until I was 14, and then when I was 14, I began attending college. Mom was not playing about that education. She always said, "Acting is a privilege not a priority. Education is the priority. If you're not bringing home As and Bs, you can't go on the audition."