I always want to tell the truth. It doesn't have to be a pretty truth, and it doesn't have to be a life-changing and life-threatening truth like 'Chi-Raq.' But I want to tell someone's truth in an effort to inspire people to see themselves reflected on the screen.

Teyonah Parris

Categorized in : Someone People Truth Effort

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

woman myself look journey

I want to continue to strive towards deepening my relationship with God and finding peace in whatever trials or circumstances I may be given.

Teyonah Parris

god want relationship peace

When you get older, you start to doubt, and you put limitations on yourself. But little Teyonah had no fear.

Teyonah Parris

yourself start you fear

It only takes one person to mobilize a community and inspire change. Even if you don't feel like you have it in you, it's in you. You have to believe in yourself. People will see your vision and passion and follow you.

Teyonah Parris

believe-in-yourself passion change

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

think you matter life

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

picture looking dream school

It feels good to be a role model for little girls who don't often see natural hair on the red carpet.

Teyonah Parris

little-girls good red hair

I've wanted to be an actress my whole life, and the - none of the women I aspired to be like had natural hair.

Teyonah Parris

like women hair life

I got my first relaxer when I was nine years old. This was in the '90s, and I convinced my mom to let me perm my hair so I could wear a French roll with the crimps in the front.

Teyonah Parris

wear me mom hair

I was a wild child tomboy.

Teyonah Parris

tomboy wild child

When you just come into a show that's already established, you feel that they're family, and they have a way of doing things and running things.

Teyonah Parris

feel you family way

When I look at material, I get excited by things that are telling the truth because that's what you want to do: tell somebody else's truth.

Teyonah Parris

look you truth want

When I looked at 'Dear White People,' you have four African-American students who are all very different and who are trying to figure out who they are. They're dealing with identity issues and crises. That is exciting to me, to see African-American young people on a page, on a screen, who are so diverse and whose stories are all so different.

Teyonah Parris

me you identity people

I, for myself, have wanted to get more into producing because I want to be a part of the conversation and be one of the voices in the story we're trying to tell.

Teyonah Parris

story myself conversation trying

When I'm filming, I keep my hair in cornrows so that they can fit a wig on top of my hair.

Teyonah Parris

wig keep top hair

I try to be very particular about the roles I choose and what they say and put into the universe. I try to do my part.

Teyonah Parris

they-say choose try universe

When you get into this industry and the restrictions placed on women, first, and then on women on color, next? Yeah, this business comes with its challenges. But I do not shy away from those challenges.

Teyonah Parris

you women business challenges

Ever since I was maybe nine or 10 years old, I'd say, 'I'm gonna be an actor, and I'm gonna go to Julliard, and I'm gonna be in movies.' My parents never said, 'What's your backup plan?'

Teyonah Parris

your movies parents never

Every time I get a role, or the opportunity to explore a role, I look at it, and I think, 'What is the story we're trying to tell here?'

Teyonah Parris

look think opportunity time

When you have filmmakers like Justin Simien, writers, producers, actresses like Lena Waithe, who are people of color, they're creating their own content and saying, 'You know what? We're not going to wait on someone else to tell our story. We're going to do it ourselves. You can be a part of it or not.'

Teyonah Parris

wait you color people