Actress-comedian Kim Wayans is opened up about her twenties in a special YouTube series promoting Lena Waithe‘s new show Twenties, which airs on BET.
Wayans is candid about learning to trust herself and voice, sharing that for a long time she “looked to other people to basically tell me who I was.”
“When I was young, I didn’t really trust my voice. I looked to my brothers, I looked to other people to basically tell me who I was,” she said. “Deep inside, I knew who I was and I knew what I wanted to do, but when you’re young like that, sometimes it’s hard to trust that.”
The actress also shared what it was like navigating the entertainment industry as a young Black woman as she struggled with being “put you in a box.”
“Trying to figure out my place in the industry was hard, you know? It was hard because things are changing now and doors are opening up now but when I was coming up and looking for opportunities, they just like put you in a box and there are certain things that are asked of you to do,” she continued.
“It wasn’t all that thrilling or exciting. It’s nice to see now all these opportunities and all these different ways of seeing Black people and Black women, in particular, that’s really great.”
You can watch the full interview above and check out Waithe’s latest series, Twenties, every Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET on BET.