I grew up a middle class, colonized child of teachers, and librarians and people, women especially, who treasured education.
Lorraine ToussaintYou can't play history and you can't play historical characters. You just have to reduce it to the ordinary.
Lorraine ToussaintWe all have a dark side. Most of us go through life avoiding direct confrontation with that aspect of ourselves, which I call the shadow self. Theres a reason why. It carries a great deal of energy.
Lorraine ToussaintAs an actor, I usually have to find something to love about my character in order to play her.
Lorraine ToussaintWe actors are superstitious creatures. We do all the homework and we put all of the components together, but there's always one key aspect that we're not in charge of, really, and that's magic. You are always on the lookout for where and how that magic is going to ignite. When you have worked as much as I have and have sought it out as often as I do, you get very clear that it will come at very, very odd, unexpected moments.
Lorraine Toussaint