On this week’s episode of I Turn My Camera On, Lance Gross brings “Luke Cage” leading lady Simone Missick to his studio for a photo session and discussion centered around the meaning of courage.
“Courage is just getting it done, no matter what’s in the way or what obstacle you have or what fear you have,” Lance says. “To me, fear is nothing but False Evidence Appearing Real. So, courage is getting it done, making it happen.”
Weighing in with her definition of courage, Simone shared that having faith or belief in yourself beyond what seems possible is a hugh part of truly embracing the concept of being courageous.
“For me, [courage] is faith,” she says. “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. And for people who aren’t spiritual, it’s really just self-belief and believing that those things that you put out and that you want, you can actually achieve.”
As the conversation continues, the actress also opens up about deciding to wear a natural hairstyle to her audition for her “Luke Cage” character Misty Knight and whether or not that influenced the character having natural hair on screen.
“I came in the room the way I was, with my hair naturally curly and I put myself on tape that way. I want to say it was the first time I’d ever done that,” Simone continues. “Because, again, you often think, ‘Ok does the character have curly hair or straight hair? Ok, if she has curly hair, do I really want them touching my hair?’ Because, that’s a big thing. You know, are they going to burn my hair off, break my hair off? And for this audition, I was like, ‘I’m just gonna do a twist out.’ And I had no idea that she had an afro or anything like that. But then also, the creator of the show, his wife has natural hair and he was adamant that Misty was going to have natural hair. So, I think it all came from me just stepping into that position as I was and in my full self and they accepted it.”
Simone also shares the backstory behind how she landed the coveted role of Misty Knight, some of the things she did to try to fit in in Hollywood and how her husband ultimately helped her realize that authenticity was the key to her success. Check out the episode in full above and visit the official website HERE to view all episodes.