00:00I came into this industry exactly who I was.
00:04I was sought after based on who I was.
00:07So I didn't really know or understand.
00:10I knew that I personally was not represented across Hollywood like that.
00:16But I really didn't think nothing of it.
00:18I'm like, oh, they want Breeze.
00:19I'm just going to pull up and be me.
00:21You know what I mean?
00:22But even my first role being Empire, I had the same experience.
00:27Of course, Lee Daniels was the showrunner then.
00:29And so he's a black gay man.
00:30And he was like, no, I like you exactly how you are.
00:34And he was the first person I encountered who was big on telling those stories.
00:39You know what I'm saying?
00:40Like, nope, don't change, don't do this.
00:42But outside of that and in between the Lee Daniels and the Nkechi Carols,
00:47there are people who are like, you need to maybe a little lip gloss, a heel, something.
00:55Do something.
00:55You know what I'm saying?
00:56And a lot of people still don't think that women who look like me and walk like me
01:02and talk like me can thrive in this industry without being that.
01:06You know what I'm saying?
01:07So for me, it was an automatic, absolutely not for me.
01:12So I was never even willing to have the conversation.
01:14If we're not going to do something properly, it's a difference.
01:17If you want me to play a feminine role, it's different.
01:20But if we are going to represent this particular type of person, we have to do it accurately.
01:24And I'm not saying that all women, you know, dress a particular character.
01:29You know what I'm saying?
01:29So that's what it's been about for me.
01:32And like I said, you still, I still hear it.
01:35I walk around it like, whatever, y'all ain't going to say it to me.
01:38You know what I'm saying?
01:39But, you know, I know it's out there.
01:41And I think the purpose of telling these stories is so we're not even having them conversations.
01:45You know what it is when you see it.
01:50You know what it is when you see it.
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