AGE: 35
HOME: London
My big break: Getting a job straight out of college with a company called Corn Exchange. It kick-started my life as a working actor.
My go-to karaoke song: God love the people who’ve got to listen, but anything by Prince or Kate Bush.
The last thing that made me LOL: “Loving prompted some serious reflection about who gets to define you and how you should live.”
Watching repeats of Father Ted [an Irish sitcom] last night.
The beauty product that has changed my life: Tweezers were a revelation.
Why being in Loving is such an important role for me: Good parts are hard to come by and great ones are nearly nonexistent, but I knew that the alchemy of this story would be something special. Whirl into that mix what it means to me personally. My mom is Irish and my dad, Ethiopian. The movie prompted some serious reflection about who gets to define who you are and why and how you should live.
How I felt seeing myself on the big screen for the first time: Horrified. I sat in the loo [restroom] for most of my scenes with a friend giving me the heads-up on when I’d disappeared offscreen.
This feature originally appeared in the ESSENCE December 2016 issue.