I want to have the kind of career in which I'm accomplished and respected enough that I'm able to open doors for other people, especially those who look like me. That's what happiness and success could look like for me.

It means so much to be a part of bringing James Baldwin's words to life.

I just think the way Regina King carries herself in this industry is something to strive for. Even though she's been in the business as long as she has, she's still just one of the most genuine, realest people I've met so far. And so watching her, I realize that I don't have to change who I am at the core in order to have a career.

Well, I used to model back in high school, and I was one of those people that, every week I was tuning in to 'America's Next Top Model.'

My mom knew we were going to call me Kiki by birth. I think she had the nickname before she had my name, and she then found the name that would allow that.

It's just always been in my heart to perform.

I used to climb trees and ride my bike way too fast downhill.

Love & Basketball' has stuck with me since I first saw it.

I think I learned the value of being more patient with myself.

Most Sagittariuses start off really reserved. You gotta check people out, see what they're about, and then once we decide you're cool, then that's when we become super fun and really outgoing. But first we gotta make sure everybody's cool.

It's amazing to me how quickly the industry will try to put you into a box. It's like, I did 'Beale Street.' And they decided now, all of a sudden, 'Oh, okay. KiKi Layne does those little quiet indie dramas.' I'm like, 'No! That's just where I got started.'

I'm trying to be what I want to see more of: Black women onscreen.

That love and loyalty, that groundedness, is always there. I got the type of family that no matter how far I go in Hollywood, they will quickly remind me who the hell I am and where the hell I came from.

When men are put into these types of circumstances like Bigger in 'Native Son,' or Fonny in 'Beale Street,' it destroys relationships, their love, their relationships with their children - it's under attack.

I feel there's a really raw quality in the Chicago theater community that's really special.

Hollywood has had a very limited way of telling stories about black people.

Aaliyah is my favorite singer.

I think especially when depicting young love, so often we see young love where you're just all about this other person, where you're willing to do everything, anything, wherever they need you to be.

For young girls to see someone who looks more like her, doing and being her. That's where my ambition and drive comes from, it's being so insanely committed to that. To achieve that, I'm doing everything I can.

Like, no, I can really be queen of the universe. I can be president. I can be, I don't know, an alien from Venus. Like you could just seriously... and that's the fun of acting.

What does it mean when I wear something that makes me look like a Disney Princess? Versus something that's like 'ooh, maybe Kiki Layne can be a sex symbol.' Because these are things that, sometimes dark skin actors with natural hair, we don't get put into those types of conversations.

Some things shoot in Chicago, but even those things that shoot there still cast their bigger roles in L.A. or New York.

We all have those moments when you're sitting in your feelings and you're sitting in your thoughts and you're taking in what your current situation is.

My favorite artist is J. Cole. I like Kehlani a lot. Teyana Taylor is dope too.