I wouldn't be able to tackle a character like Rosalee on 'Underground' without having tackled the many characters I've played before.
— Jurnee Smollett-Bell
I always told my representatives, 'Look, I come from the 'School of Janet' - that's my mom - she raised me to know that I'm more than just set dressing.
I'm told I'm a statistic. I'm told that my young black sisters are disease-ridden... but we are greater than what society tells us we are.
'Full House' was the first time I had ever been in front of a live audience. I said a line I had rehearsed with my mom, and they laughed. It was wild. To have that energy of the live audience was like, Whaaat? Feeding off that live audience was, to a 4 or 5 year old, a high.
The lullaby my husband puts our son to sleep with is so random. It's 'Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough' by Michael Jackson.
I'm very opinionated and passionate when it comes to my characters.
I like the idea of matchmaking; I'm just not very good at it. It's too much pressure!
Until we really heal the wounds that we dealt with during slavery, I don't think we'll be a fully realized country.
I walk in a space of gratitude. I'm so grateful to God for blessing me with an amazing family and the opportunity to do what I love.
We used to play touch football, where you put the little rag in your pocket. I was good because I was fast. I wasn't the greatest at catching. Sometimes the ball would come so hard and fast that it'd knock the wind out of me.
My siblings are so talented. My sister's a producer, and my brothers and I all write.
Injustice is either very blatant - you walk down the street and someone calls you a name; you don't get a job because of your gender or your skin color or your sexual preference - but injustice is also very subliminal.
I have a complex heritage: my mom is African American, and my dad is Jewish. Both were activists, and they met during the movement in the '70s.
Henry Louis Gates is such a wealth of knowledge in himself.
I love to get in the library and just spend days researching characters.
The slave narratives, there is a wealth of research there, because you are hearing stories from the first person account, and that's a whole different thing than reading about it in the history books. You're able to really personalize it.
There's a lot of progress happening in TV. You have amazing shows like 'How to Get Away With Murder.' You have people like Shonda Rhimes, Lee Daniels with 'Empire,' and Jason Katims with 'Friday Night Lights' and 'Parenthood.' You have people behind the scenes writing complex women.
I don't know if I would be doing what I do without 'Eve's Bayou,' and I don't know if I would have the career that I have without working on 'Eve's Bayou.' The love for what I do, I found it in that project.
I want to tell human stories not solely based on race. There are so many great actresses and actors that are out there, and I just want to see them do good work.
There's something about Jason Katims' writing that just feels like home to me. He gives you so much liberty to play, which you don't find on most TV shows. You just don't.
I'm so proud of 'Underground' because it's this thriller; it's this action- adventure. It's unexpected. People think it's gonna one be one thing - they think it's gonna be very depressing and downtrodden - and it's empowering.
Little Richard played my uncle on 'Full House.' He's fabulous. I remember him being incredibly kind to me. I just remember him being super, super nice.
As women, I think we give so much of ourselves.
We all try to pretend we're the person we want to be when we're really not, and you've just gotta be willing to say, 'Here are all my flaws; here's who I am - take it or leave it. If you love me still, then let's do this.'
My mom is from New Orleans. And all of my maternal relatives were there during Katrina. We couldn't even find my uncle for four months. We literally didn't know where he was. I had been there just four days before the storm hit.
I started shooting 'The Defenders' two days after I wrapped' Friday Night Lights.' I was doing research for 'The Defenders' throughout - interviewing lawyers and sitting in courtrooms just to watch - but there's something fun about throwing yourself in the water and learning by doing.
My mom is African-American, Native-American, Irish, and Creole, and my father is of Jewish, Russian, and Polish descent. It's made me who I am. Because of my diverse background, I think I can relate to many different people, different stories, and different communities.
I'm very picky about the kind of work that I do, and I'm fortunate to have been able to work with great directors and great actors who've helped me grow as an artist.
They did laugh; they did fall in love. And while they were under incredibly oppressive conditions, they constantly were trying to steal pleasures. When you go back to the slave narratives, and you read books like the 'Bullwhip Days' or 'Incidents in the Life of the Slave Girl,' they will share what life was like, and it's a 365-degree view.
There's this notion, kind of like unspoken, that you can't live your dreams and be a mom. You can't have a career and be a mom. There's still that preconceived notion, and I reject that.
I can get a little scattered and want to be everywhere and want to do everything for everyone.
I'm a research queen.
It's not very exciting to go to work to just have your character's identity being defined by her relationship with her male counterparts.
A lot of the issues today may not affect us personally, but we can't stay in our comfort zone when it comes to protecting our brothers and sisters. We have to get out there and use our voices for them as well.
Part of an ensemble show is realizing it's a collaboration. It's like a symphony. Everybody takes their turn, but it's really the collective group that matters.
My dream role is actually behind the camera. I want to direct.
We got spoiled with 'Friday Night Lights.' Not every show is like that, and on other shows, if you try to bring that same truth or that same approach, the system of television doesn't always allow for that level of collaboration, which is unfortunate because the work would be richer.
Far too often, I read a script where the girls are the girlfriend or the set dressing.
I think, as human beings, we try to hide our flaws and try to present this perfect person, this person we wish we were, to our spouse when that causes so many troubles.
With film, there's a consistency to it, but what I like about the TV shows that I've been fortunate to do, like 'Friday Night Lights' and 'True Blood,' is that it feels like you're doing a film.
I have respect for therapists in general, because they hear so many stories. It's a lot to hold and take in.
I'm very grateful to have been able to work with so many talented filmmakers and actors during my career. I've learned so much from them. It's been my college, in a way.
There's something about driving through Texas, and it's hot, your skin is sticking to you. The environment affects your attitude and your swagger.
When I was 12 years old, I got involved with an organization called Artists for a New South Africa. One of its missions is to help with HIV/AIDS awareness.
There's injustices within our system that we inherited from this time, from slavery, and until we confront our past, we're not going to be able to heal the wounds for our future.
I've always been proud that I come from people who were activists, who have this indomitable spirit. I am proud to have inherited the spirit of resistance and revolution.
Before being a mom, I remember going on a Twitter rant during the whole George Zimmerman trial in Florida about my younger brothers and how one day I'll be the mom of a black son.
Marian Wright Edelman is a mentor and hero of mine.
The Underground Railroad, which was the first integrated civil rights movement, is a part of our history that not a lot of us know about. And it's actually a very empowering side of our history.
I read so many scripts, and it's not really exciting to just be the girlfriend.
