Samira Wiley Quotes

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Samira Wiley

Profession : Actress

Birth : April 15, 1987

I think of the prisoners on 'Orange Is the New Black,' a lot of times, as uplifting.

Samira Wiley

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.

Samira Wiley

I didn't do 'Orange' because I knew it was good. I wanted to do this because it feels good. And I just knew that was the place I needed, wanted to be.

Samira Wiley

It's interesting to have two totally unlikable characters as the love interests on a show.

Samira Wiley

I think that therapy is great and can be incredibly helpful.

Samira Wiley

'Orange Is the New Black' was my home show. I knew the set; I knew everyone there.

Samira Wiley

Like any actor, I want to be able to have a long career and show different characters and a range.

Samira Wiley

It is television; we're making television at the end of the day. It's all smoke and mirrors, and it's all fake, but it's not, because it makes people really feel things that are real.

Samira Wiley

My mother, actually, is a therapist.

Samira Wiley

You take so much on as a therapist: you just sit there and listen to people talk with you, and you're trying to help people, and it can be draining.

Samira Wiley

The actors that I admire are able to step into so many different roles.

Samira Wiley

Playing a character for four years, in people's minds, that's who you are.

Samira Wiley

I do get recognized, more and more every day.

Samira Wiley

There's a play that Chekhov wrote called 'Uncle Vanya,' and I when I was in school, I played Sonya, and sometimes people ask me if there was ever a role I could play again, that's definitely the role I would play again: Sonya in 'Uncle Vanya.'

Samira Wiley

When I was younger in the theater, I didn't really feel like I got much recognition from the powers that be. I got a lot of small roles - I never got the standout roles.

Samira Wiley

You have people who are so passionate and touched by my work, which is so humbling. But other times, it's a little overwhelming. If I'm just trying to go to the bodega and get some coconut water, I have to put on a hat and some glasses - those kind of things.

Samira Wiley

I grew up in the church.

Samira Wiley

I really want to play a superhero. I want to take the role-model thing up a notch. I've always been a fan of movies and TV, and to be able to play the ultimate TV superhero would be awesome.

Samira Wiley

I was obsessed with Lil' Bow Wow growing up, and you couldn't see the white of my walls because they were plastered with his photos. This is even more embarrassing: I had a notebook full of facts about Bow Wow and different pictures. I basically made a biography notebook about him and his life when he was, like, 13.

Samira Wiley

Before Juilliard, I was a schoolteacher for a little bit. I taught in a charter school. I was a substitute teacher for kids ages 3 to 6.

Samira Wiley