Teyonah Parris Quotes

I was a theater dork in high school and did all the plays. My theater teacher in high school, Janet Spahr, was absolutely incredible and mentored me throughout school. She taught me a lot about relying on my instincts.

I went to a school called Tring Park School for the Performing Arts. I went because initially I was very naughty, and my mom thought if I was busy, I'd be better. And I didn't really do acting until later on in the school, with an amazing teacher. I left, went traveling, came back.

I worked in theater my whole life. My mom was a drama teacher at my middle school. In high school, I was Drama Club President every year, and then I auditioned for conservatory acting programs.

As I got older, I auditioned for drama school and shocked myself by getting in.

My acting teacher in high school was really influential, and we still keep in touch.

I was lucky because my mum was a teacher and showed me how to read and write. But most importantly, she encouraged me to use my imagination.

I'm lucky I had some teachers who saw something in me.

I've had teachers that inspired me, yes. I think teachers play a really important role in people's lives. I had one teacher in particular who helped me through high school and really instilled a confidence in me by just holding me up to a standard I wasn't holding myself up to.

Growing up, I was always in my high school musicals and everything, but I kind of stopped doing all that when I finished school and acting became my main priority.

I went whole hog at the actor's lifestyle - really embraced it. I had by then known how much I loved acting already, because I discovered acting from a teacher in the seminary - that's the first place I ever did it, in the seminary.

There were no theatre facilities at the comp that I went to, but I did have amazing teachers who never stopped encouraging me.

I went to acting school. I went to college for acting.

I took up drama and did so much extracurricular work, like the National Youth Theatre and Guildhall's Saturday school. Acting is where I felt most comfortable and how I wanted to express myself.

I wasn't originally taking drama, but the drama teacher asked me to audition for Bye, Bye Birdie. I did and got the lead role. Initially I was kind of scared, but once I did it I got bitten by the bug and loved it.

I had a teacher in college who drastically changed the course of my life by telling me that he believed in me as an actor. I never received that support before, and it inspired to me to such a degree that I never looked back. He taught me that it's okay to be crappy; it's okay to fight; it's okay to go to any length.

You always get things that teach you and steps to grow, but there is a confidence that is gained and a deep understanding of what it means to be supported by your knowledge - not by some team that is there to create confidence; it is there within you. That takes time. That takes teachers. That takes taking risks.

It never occurred to me that I wouldn't go to college and have a career - as well as a family - of my own. Both my parents, but especially my mother, encouraged me and led me to believe that it was possible.

Luckily, the public school system that I was in had a really great drama program, so I plunged into that. It really sort of kept me afloat because I was bored in school.

The last person to teach me how to act was my A-level Theatre Studies teacher at school, which I literally still draw on. Got an A!

From the time I was ten, I thought of myself as 'good with words,' thanks to a perceptive and supportive fifth grade teacher.

During my senior year, I was supposed to spend a semester student teaching, but decided I couldn't be a teacher. My aunt Beth's friend was Jackie Gleason's daughter, Linda Miller. She encouraged me to talk to her. After doing that, she recommended Catholic University's M.F.A. acting program. So that's what I did.

I'd trained at the University of Washington and had a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting.

Surround yourself with good people. Whether they're the best or not, people are capable of learning if they've got good hearts and they're good souls.

I was very close to my father. At the age of ten I wanted to do plays, and my father was very encouraging. When I applied to different acting schools, he was right there and very supportive.

I can't do a role or character unless I have lived that character. For me, the best teacher is life.