Simone Missick

“One of the things that is always hard for actors on set - and it doesn't matter at what stage you're in - is advocating for yourself.”

“I think every day, being alive, it is important to all of us to try to find the light and the hope.”

“All of these wonderful characters and opportunities come to me and I can't say no.”

“I was just interested in playing a character that was flawed.”

“For so long, a buying, consuming population has been ignored and forced to see stories that do not reflect them or their views. Money talks. It was the success of 'Luke Cage' and the success of 'Black Panther' that I think has people going, 'Oh, OK. Yes. I'll buy that.'”

“I always joke with my husband that, whenever he comes back from being gone for awhile, I'm like, 'You're like a feral cat. I've gotta get you back in the mode of there being a woman in the house.'”

“I think it's great to be able to play these strong female leads but that are multi-dimensional and that people can identify with.”

“I think so often in our industry, people get typecast.”

“I think it takes a tremendous amount of courage to trust in something that's greater than yourself, that you can't see or feel.”

“I've seen a lot of people over the years just do things that were unsafe because someone asked them to. And it might not be until later that they say, 'I was uncomfortable with that,' or if they get injured, 'Yes, I probably shouldn't have done that take a second time.'”

“I was captain of my varsity basketball team.”

“So many more actors would be so much happier with the process of going to work, the process of auditioning, which is another part of work, if we recognize the power that we do have to advocate for ourselves.”

“I am the lead on a network show. That is a major opportunity. If I had kept that small vision of what was available and what was possible, then I wouldn't be here.”

“Lola Carmichael is a woman that we have not seen on TV in this kind of role. When we see judges, they're normally in the back of our legal system.”

“I watched the first season of 'Altered Carbon' before I shot the show and I had to watch it twice. Just to make sure I got it because the first season is dense.”

“You can make shows that you believe in and shows that are a little bit different.”

“It's important for the world to see black women as not just the suffering wife or haggard mother.”

“So, with 'All Rise,' I'm able to be the lead of a show, on a network that is really committed to seeing these stories being told, and that is interested in seeing it told in a really different way, where it's not your typical legal drama. The fact that they signed up for this ride, I'm so thankful.”

“Human nature we get easily distracted.”