KiKi Layne

“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.”

“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?”

“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.”

“The Kate Spade woman is a classy sort of working woman who's still stylish.”

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

“Fashion is another opportunity for me to break through boundaries and to be seen wearing things.”

“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.”

“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.”

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

“I left before I had the opportunity to pursue work more widely in Chicago.”

“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.”

“Growing up, my favorite movie was 'The Lion King.' I used to watch it every day and create these extravagant stories with my Barbies and stuffed animals. My dad says I would say the entire movie out loud, and it's still the one VHS that I have.”

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

“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.”

“I know for me personally, I'm a person that tends to pull back from the people that love me when I'm going through something.”

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

“The history of black people in America, it's so painful. But throughout all that history there has still been the ability of our community to find love and laughter and joy even in these very painful circumstances. That's why I think in particular black love is so powerful, because it's constantly under attack.”

“I want a career filled with a lot of variety.”

“The only thing I'm sure of is that I want to keep doing work that speaks to me.”

“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.”