I don't have to accept what you think I should look like and I do not accept what you think I should look like. Danielle Brooks More Quotes by Danielle Brooks More Quotes From Danielle Brooks "Be fearless," is one thing. I'm still learning what that means, to be fearless. It doesn't just mean to be fearless in your work, but also in life. Don't compare your career to anyone else's. It's tough when you're in a business that's competitive. Now, I'm having to learn to be patient and be where I am. Because I'm driven, I have a hard time being patient. The universe is like, "You're not ready! Sit back and wait." Everything will line up just how it's supposed to. Danielle Brooks hard-times waiting mean I go by my own standards, and I will be the voice of the curves for the women that feel like they can't stand up for themselves. Danielle Brooks standards curves voice By no longer operating out of a place of fear. So if you see me on a carpet with my arms and legs out glistening, or my midriff exposed, it's a reminder to myself and the world that I know I'm beautiful. Danielle Brooks legs beautiful world Honestly, I haven't always been into fashion because I wasn't seeing myself reflected in the fashion industry ... Clothes are such a big part of who we are, they really show our personalities. I wasn't finding that. Danielle Brooks honestly fashion personality I've always been able to fake my way into confidence. Sometimes I put my own fears aside to make sure I'm being of service to others. To clarify - hell yes, it was brave of me to step out in my lingerie for the commercial compaign, not because I'm plus-sized, but because I'm a human being. People get it confused. I'm brave because I'm not afraid of what people are going to say about me. It's not an easy thing to do, but it is something that I will always challenge myself to do. I don't want to be held back by my body because someone tells me I should. Danielle Brooks confused brave people I think there are more limiting factors in my career than just being chocolate. I think being a curvy girl is also a factor. Being someone with natural hair is also a factor. Those are things that I can't change. Personally, I don't want to live with limitations. If there comes a time where I am dying to play Juliet or Macbeth, I want to make those avenues for myself. The world might limit me, but as the type of artist I am, I'll create those opportunities. Danielle Brooks girl artist opportunity There's 67 percent of women that are in this plus-size world that we live in. And that's over half of the women in the world. So why are we not dressing for [them]? Danielle Brooks size half world I am really glad women are speaking out. Danielle Brooks speaking-out glad I feel beautiful when I watch the commercials or see myself on a bus. But it's not only because it is me on a bus, it's also what we represent - telling the world to get out of these social norms of what it means to be beautiful. Danielle Brooks beautiful mean world My struggle now is with these red carpets. It is still really hard to get people to design for me. It's frustrating because you feel like you're the minority. You feel this pull of what it means to be "sample size" and you're not that and most designers don't have anything that fits. It's so important to continuously put billboards where people see curvy women and know that we are here and we deserve to be designed for. We deserve to spend our money on expensive stuff if we want. Danielle Brooks struggle mean people Luckily my fans are so lovely and I haven't really had to - what's the phrase? - "Clap back at the trolls?" Every now and then I do get a troll that mentions my skin color and calls me ugly names, though, like "Dark Monkey." Most of the time those people have their pages blocked, or you can't even see their profile picture. I can't focus on that. What I've realized is that I have the power to control how I feel about what they say. Danielle Brooks focus dark people I've always gotten like, "you're a queen"' or "yes motha." And "you're beautiful" and a lot of people are saying that because I am confident, and they are finding themselves to be more confident. Especially when you meet them in person. Danielle Brooks queens beautiful people It's crazy how your mind works because you can receive hundreds and thousands of all these love posts and all this good affirmation on Instagram or Twitter. And then that one person writes one thing that dims your light but that's the thing you can't let it dim your light, because what I've realized - it's really not your problem, it's theirs. Danielle Brooks crazy light writing There are brands out there, plus-size brands, that all they want to do is sell their clothes and be done. Danielle Brooks size clothes done I always wanted to be a Broadway girl. But once I got Tony-nominated, it really messed with me, because it was like, yes, I'm getting this affirmation that you're right where you're supposed to be, but there was still this voice saying, 'You're not good enough.' Danielle Brooks good me you girl Sometimes I need a slower pace, to slow my mind down and just be with nature, go outside. Danielle Brooks down nature mind sometimes Clothing is so much a part of who we are; that's our way of expressing ourselves. Danielle Brooks expressing clothing who way You reap what you sow, and sometimes the soil can be very dry, and sometimes it will bring a lot of rain. Danielle Brooks will you rain sometimes I think theater and church are so relatable because it's traditional call-and-response in the way that an audience interacts with the actors. Danielle Brooks think audience church way In Greenville, we were blessed to have lots of youth arts programs. I changed middle schools to go to an arts middle school. Then, when high school came, I went to normal high school for a little while before auditioning for the Governor's School for Arts and Humanities. Danielle Brooks high-school youth blessed school
