'Beale Street' is such an intimate story that I think it requires intimate connections between the artists that are a part of it.

As an actor, my commitment is to be really mindful of how I'm representing Black women. It's the heart of my drive, and my career is to expand how Black women have been represented.

I remember growing up and feeling like I didn't really see much of myself represented. Or if I did, there were only a few types of roles that had authority.

Watching 'Moonlight,' I just recognized this patience in the film - allowing moments to live and linger - and I just thought that was so beautiful.

The thing about tarot - maybe this to me is the difference between it and working with a psychic - to me it's clarifying the things that you already know. I don't feel like any tarot reading I've done or received was particularly surprising. They always speak to things that you kind of felt already.

Acting is communication. It's giving and receiving.

I could do comedy, action, or even science fiction.

People will definitely know that my art has something to say.

Will Smith is my favorite actor, because he has so much variety in his career. He's done all types of roles, played in all types of worlds, and to me, that's the fun of acting. That's why I started doing it when I was eight years old, because you get to be whatever you want.

I'm learning so much about my style just having access to so many things now. Growing up in Cincinnati, we really didn't have much money so it was really about places where you can go to get the most for the least.

Seeing all of these beautiful brown faces and having that patience for them to live in whatever it was that they were living in; I was just so blown away by the artistry that I recognized in 'Moonlight' - the colors, the music.

To see a young black woman being loved for just who she is - her hair, her skin, her clothes - is powerful.

I'm not one of those people that's like, 'I'm about to serve on this Whitney Houston song at like 2 A.M.' No. Karaoke? I'm just like, 'Live your best life.' We're not worried about those notes, we just living.

I think with the 'Fresh Prince,' there were all of these really interesting personalities and characters, and yet there's so much love in that household.

I always have to find things that I relate to and understand in the characters that I play; otherwise, it won't feel that authentic.

It's important for me to not be put into any type of box because that steals the fun of acting. I want to do everything.

It's the first way I feel we can really express ourselves. There's always a story you can tell with fashion.

Who do I have a cinematic crush on? I mean, it's such a go-to: Michael B. Jordan. I was like, it's everybody's go-to. Who else?

It would be tough to live a life without any of the people you loved, where you can't even build new relationships. That connectivity is so important as humans. I wouldn't want to live like that.

As much as I love to slay a red carpet hitting the ground running with 'Beale Street' and 'Native Son,' representing two such important voices in James Baldwin and Richard Wright let people know that I'm an artist and I really have something to say with this gift.

If you see black people being portrayed in this one way well then, when you see a black person in real life, you're going to carry some of that way of thinking with you.

I'm definitely a person, even when I need help, I got to be going through it to finally ask for help.

The black community is under attack in so many different ways.

My mom put me into a performing arts elementary school back in Cincinnati, so I started studying acting in school when I was seven.