Jurnee Smollett-Bell Quotes

After being a mom, we are now in a different chapter in our womanhood, and instead of trying to be our old selves or get our old body back, we should embrace who we are now.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

I wouldn't say I'm a Method actor, but there are times where a role will require you to live in their world.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

My mom bought me an 'Anne of Green Gables' journal. And I just remember thinking it was so cool, and I could write anything in it.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

Oftentimes, a history book in school will talk about the Underground Railroad as if it's one sentence. But thousands of people decided to run, and they single-handedly changed the trajectory of our nation. By running to the North, they put a face to slavery, which recruited a lot of abolitionists.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

Until we really heal the wounds that we dealt with during slavery, I don't think we'll be a fully realized country.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

With 'Underground,' we see that the wounds that we all, as a nation, inflicted upon our brothers and sisters during slavery have not been healed.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

'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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

I read so many scripts, and it's not really exciting to just be the girlfriend.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

People look at you, and they think they know you. They think they can place you in a certain category by what they think they know about you. But there's so much more to all of us than what we know and what we see at face value.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

It's such a transition and it's so empowering to become a mom, but there are also many challenges. Just remind yourself, every minute, every day, to be kind to yourself.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

Henry Louis Gates is such a wealth of knowledge in himself.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

I always said, 'Whenever I get pregnant, I'm going to embrace all of the body changes that happen.' My focus has not been on any sort of snap-back or anything like that, because your body won't be the same after giving birth, and if anything, that's something to be celebrated, embraced, and owned.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

It is a beautiful thing to work on your relationship.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

How often do you see young actors playing scholars? Or striving to be intellectuals, you know? It's not that often.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.'

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

My dream role is actually behind the camera. I want to direct.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

The AIDS epidemic began before I was born - I've never known a world without it. And yet, despite its omnipresence in our lives, there remains a pervasive silence around AIDS among young people, particularly young women.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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'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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- 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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

My siblings are so talented. My sister's a producer, and my brothers and I all write.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

I can get a little scattered and want to be everywhere and want to do everything for everyone.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

That's something I've struggled with my entire life - people underestimating me.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

I'm such a huge fan of Gap! My mom used to dress me in Gap overalls that I would wear all the time, and now the idea of bringing my son into that tradition is so ironic and full-circle for me.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

There's still a really divisive residue in our nation that's called racism and prejudice and oppression and sexism.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

Marian Wright Edelman is a mentor and hero of mine.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

I wouldn't even call myself a former child star. I was a child actor; there's a difference.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

I love to get in the library and just spend days researching characters.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

I'm very opinionated and passionate when it comes to my characters.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

I have respect for therapists in general, because they hear so many stories. It's a lot to hold and take in.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

If I have a jump rope and a resistance band, I can work out anywhere. Even without a jump rope. If you do 200 jumping jacks, then drop and do some crunches, and then do some squats, you're good.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

Far too often, I read a script where the girls are the girlfriend or the set dressing.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

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.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

There are obstacles and challenges that my dark-skinned sisters face that I will never know. How they are perceived when they walk in a room of strangers is something I will never truly know.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

I would be ignorant to say colorism doesn't exist; it's gross and disgusting.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

I'm a research queen.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

I'm a nature lover.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

The real trendsetters are the ones who rebel. Those are the ones who everyone in fashion eventually follows.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

I like the idea of matchmaking; I'm just not very good at it. It's too much pressure!

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell

Marriage is a work in progress, but it's beautiful.

- Jurnee Smollett-Bell