Sufe Bradshaw: I used to wait tables at Gladstone's, a seafood restaur...

When you come from a family of ten children you learn very early on in life to stand up for yourself and hold your ground regarding the things you're passionate about.

Sufe Bradshaw

stand-up-for-yourself passionate children

From an early age, I never let anyone silence my voice. This steadfast attitude has helped me as an actor and has truly enabled me to explore and evolve the characters I portray on television and film.

Sufe Bradshaw

voice attitude character

One woman violated is already too many but when I learned that it was one in three, the first thought in my head was "Why aren't more people talking about this?"

Sufe Bradshaw

three talking people

No one girl or woman deserves to feel like a vicious attack was her fault.

Sufe Bradshaw

vicious faults girl

I've been extremely fortunate in that my career allows me to be seen and heard by people all over the world and I know that my only option is to utilize this gift to speak for those who may not have the means, courage, or strength to speak out.

Sufe Bradshaw

speaks-out careers mean

My passion for others and my experience as an actor and citizen of the world has naturally shaped me into a social and political activist who finds fulfillment from their work with meaningful organizations.

Sufe Bradshaw

passion organization meaningful

I found it atrocious and downright infuriating to learn that one in three women on the planet will be raped or beaten in her lifetime.

Sufe Bradshaw

infuriating three lifetime

Laughter is such a healing thing, and through laughter, we find commonalities with each other. There's a lot of separation in the world, and by creating more things to laugh at, we can create a common ground for open discussion.

Sufe Bradshaw

laugh laughter healing world

When I was younger, I was always willing to tell a joke and play out a scene. I would get sticks and pretend they were light sabers. I think it was just at a young age, I was so willing to jump up and perform a little play at the family picnic.

Sufe Bradshaw

think family light age

I have to have my sunscreen. It's so important for wrinkle reduction but also to protect you from the sun. Whatever skin type one might have, whatever age they're at, I think sunscreen is key.

Sufe Bradshaw

skin you age sun

A little secret about actors is that we never think we do a great job in auditions. We kind of just go in and do our work and leave sort of hoping for the best. It's an interesting dynamic - acting is such an interesting job. You never quite know how well you do.

Sufe Bradshaw

best great you work

If you think about 'Person of Interest' with Taraji P. Henson or 'Scandal' with Kerry Washington - any of those black women could have been any race; they just happen to be black. And those are the characters that I'm more attracted to. It's not so much about separation of race, but really, more uniting us.

Sufe Bradshaw

think you women black

I was born on the west side of Chicago, and there was quite a bit of poverty. My family and I didn't have exactly the best or the most optimal financial situation in my youth, but we turned out well. My mom always made sure that we got a proper education and that we dedicated ourselves to our work.

Sufe Bradshaw

best family education work

I had an amazing mother. She raised nine kids, practically as a single parent, which is the hardest thing in the world. Nine of us! Day in and day out. She had to make sure we all had an education and that we all felt loved.

Sufe Bradshaw

day mother education world

I was a telemarketer for exactly one week in 2005. I could not take 'no' one more time. I could not take the rejection.

Sufe Bradshaw

more rejection week time

Ever since I was a little teen, I was told by my great-grandma that you've got to always have a good moisturizer. I use cocoa butter, and I use it for all things needing moisture - face, hair, throw it on those legs at the beach, get them all shiny. Cocoa butter is such a great product.

Sufe Bradshaw

face great good you

I'm a woman of lip gloss. Estee Lauder has an amazing lip gloss line. But I even go as far as to use some Wet 'n Wild, you know, old school! It's kind of like whatever works. I find that with lip gloss, there really is no difference in quality there.

Sufe Bradshaw

woman you quality school

A handy pair of tweezers go a long way. You never know when you're going to have to pluck out a few of those eyebrow hairs. Keep the tweezers in the purse!

Sufe Bradshaw

never you long way

I really think that studying theater early on really helped me to be able to identify how to get into a character, because it's such a mysterious thing. Learning objective acting in the beginning of my career was the best thing I could have ever done.

Sufe Bradshaw

best me learning character

When I was younger ,I used to want to be, like, a back-up dancer, and my mom was like, 'Well, you know, you can do that, but you might want to choose another career.'

Sufe Bradshaw

choose know you mom

I used to wait tables at Gladstone's, a seafood restaurant, day in and day out. I made some of my best friends there. I taught dance and acting lessons to kids. It was awesome - an outreach program, Voices Unheard. I was a messenger for a couple of months.