I love my city and I feel like the majority of the people that are in the city are people from other cities. So I think that L.A. sometimes might get a bad rap because it's known to be so Hollywood-oriented and then underneath that you have crime. But that's really the case in pretty much any major city that you go to.

I've tried to be flexible in my career by doing a little bit of everything and that's worked for me.

I create my own backstory regardless of if I'm told something about the background or not. There's always more that you can develop in your head that makes a character more layered, more honest.

If your woman is asleep every time you get home, shes just really tired. Of you.

People love to see themselves on screen in a way that makes sense and seems on point.

I had been going on auditions and things like that since I was probably 10 - 11 years old.

The good news for me is that I have an amazing team behind me, and they've been with me for 20 years now - almost 20 years. And they have seen me as an actress, not necessarily just a black actress. So I have been lucky enough for them to see me that way.