Teyonah Parris Quotes

Teyonah Parris

Profession : Actress

Birth : September 22, 1987

I love my 'Survivor's Remorse' cast. They are so funny and crazy, like a big dysfunctional family. It's so much fun, and I love the issues that we talk about on that show. We deal with nuanced and controversial issues, and we do it in a way that's funny. It's comedy.

Teyonah Parris

I think people need to watch 'Chi-Raq' because you need to know what's happening in your back yard.

Teyonah Parris

It's no coincidence that the cities with the highest rates of violence also have the highest rates of unemployment. There are not many opportunities. We have to address that, starting from the government down and the grassroots up.

Teyonah Parris

I think social media is a slippery slope because while you're projecting something out to people, they also project back onto you what they want to see.

Teyonah Parris

My dad, bless his heart, always told me I was beautiful, so I was never self-conscious in that way. But when you look at the images on TV, you think you need to look like that in order to be sexy.

Teyonah Parris

As a girl, I remember looking up to pop singers, and they all had long, straight weaves and light skin. And I thought, 'That's what I have to look like if I'm going to be fierce and sexy and all those things.'

Teyonah Parris

It's important, as a young person of color, to see yourself reflected in the media.

Teyonah Parris

I don't even watch basketball. I can't even pretend.

Teyonah Parris

I had been getting relaxers since I was eight or nine. I had no clue. It was a personal mission to really find out who am when I'm not altering myself to look like anybody else. Who am I when I wake up and I don't do anything to my hair? Who is that woman? I want to meet her. And that was what catapulted my journey into going natural.

Teyonah Parris

Generally, when I'm going to a new project, I take my own makeup. I'll explain to them what it is that I would like. If they are receptive, we figure it out together. If they're not, I'll be going to back to my trailer and doing my own makeup. And that's the same for hair.

Teyonah Parris

Whatever it is you do, study it, learn the ins and outs of it, and really work on building your craft.

Teyonah Parris

For me, it's always about the work and the stories I'm telling and the slices of life I feel should be illuminated.

Teyonah Parris

You have to really understand and appreciate who are you are and know who you are and what you have to offer people - not just a man but people! This helps you have something to stand on. Know your value and what makes you valuable so you can always go back to this.

Teyonah Parris

As black women, we're miles behind our white counterparts in being offered the space to create and craft female characters in major blockbuster films.

Teyonah Parris

I think, no matter who you are, at some point in your life you've probably said, 'OK, well, who am I, and where do I fit in?'

Teyonah Parris

I went to this arts high school in Greenville, S.C. In speech class, the teacher, a white man, would say, 'You're talking ghetto. Don't talk ghetto.' I'm not only offended, but I'm confused because while there's nothing wrong with people who come from the projects or the ghetto, that's actually not my experience.

Teyonah Parris

When they asked, 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' I said, 'I want to be a model and an actress.' They said, 'Why?' I said, 'Because I can look good and get paid to do it.' That's the kind of kid I was.

Teyonah Parris

I'm looking through old things of mine, and there was this binder from when I was 14 years old. It is essentially a dream board. It is a school binder that I had put magazine clippings on. It said, 'TV actress, fame, a picture of Halle Berry, a picture of Christina Aguilera.' I was obsessed with both of them.

Teyonah Parris

Working with Spike Lee was a dream of mine. It was amazing to be able to collaborate with such a visionary.

Teyonah Parris

You have to be resilient to be a black person in America. The thing about being resilient is being able to fall apart and pick yourself up again. And putting yourself back together, that improves on what you were before.

Teyonah Parris