Zazie Beetz

“I used to cry on planes. I don't anymore. It probably took almost a hundred agonizing flights to get there. Now, when I take off, a smile quivers on the corner of my lips.”

“It is so frustrating to feel in danger. People have followed me around at 2 in the morning and have literally said, 'Don't make me follow you. You're not responding to me.' It's incredibly degrading.”

“My father is German; my mother is African-American. Growing up, I visited my grandparents in Berlin a lot. I would not see any other person of color for three weeks. People would stare. They would say things like, 'Oh, you look like chocolate - I want to eat you up!'”

“I think what happens with a lot of writing and art is that specificity ends up being relatable while universality becomes vague.”

“One day, I'd like to tackle a biopic. I grew up very influenced by Josephine Baker, Billie Holiday, and Nina Simone.”

“Despite my career, so much of my life has been dictated by what I'm afraid of: fear that I am not talented. Fear that people will finally realize that I am a boring individual who doesn't have many ambitions beyond starting a family 'at a good time' in life.”

“What I crave, and what I want to see on television, is when you see a minority character, not to have it being about them being black or Asian or Latino. If you watch 'Friends,' for example, it's not about a group of people being white. It's about a group of people being friends, you know? You should just let the characters exist.”

“I worry about not being able to be myself day to day. But I know people way more famous than me who have been able to do that.”

“I'm pretty picky about my hair, so I end up always styling it myself.”

“I identify with my womanhood before anything else because that's what I deal with when I am alone.”

“Bad bread is the one thing I refuse. I need good bread.”

“Growing up I definitely, definitely had a bunch of things of, 'Um, am I black enough?' - and I guess specifically, 'Am I German enough?' Why are we measuring blackness?”

“I've had acting teachers say, 'If you want to do anything else but act, that means you're not an actor,' which I think is stupid!”

“In the United States, if you're African-American, it can be assumed that your family has been here for generations. In Europe, colonialism is much more alive, and it's assumed you're from Nigeria or Senegal.”

“I actually didn't think I was going to do TV because I don't really watch TV. I'm a little bit pretentious, and I do these little indie movies, so I envisioned that more as the path for myself.”

“I do wonder if it's my responsibility to spread a message of environmental awareness or political awareness or just, like, don't be racist or whatever, but I don't want to be the person who's like, 'Everyone be vegan forever!'”

“I feel like I pull inspiration, in general, from how I feel on a day.”

“At home in my room, I'm funny, but if I'm commissioned to be that, I don't feel very funny.”