Top 99 Quotes & Sayings by KiKi Layne

I think with the 'Fresh Prince,' there were all of these really interesting personalities and characters, and yet there's so much love in that household.

We witness so many people lose themselves in this industry, and sacrifice who they really are for success and accolades.

The black community is under attack in so many different ways.

I don't want to be put into a box.

I was artsy.

The thing about tarot - maybe this to me is the difference between it and working with a psychic - to me it's clarifying the things that you already know. I don't feel like any tarot reading I've done or received was particularly surprising. They always speak to things that you kind of felt already.

Well, I used to model back in high school, and I was one of those people that, every week I was tuning in to 'America's Next Top Model.'

The history of black people in America, it's so painful. But throughout all that history there has still been the ability of our community to find love and laughter and joy even in these very painful circumstances. That's why I think in particular black love is so powerful, because it's constantly under attack.

If you see black people being portrayed in this one way well then, when you see a black person in real life, you're going to carry some of that way of thinking with you.

'Beale Street' is such an intimate story that I think it requires intimate connections between the artists that are a part of it.

To see a young black woman being loved for just who she is - her hair, her skin, her clothes - is powerful.

I'm a huge fan of 'The Avengers,' but 'Black Panther' was so special to me.

Fashion is another opportunity for me to break through boundaries and to be seen wearing things.

It's important for me to not be put into any type of box because that steals the fun of acting. I want to do everything.

Like, no, I can really be queen of the universe. I can be president. I can be, I don't know, an alien from Venus. Like you could just seriously... and that's the fun of acting.

I'm committed to jumping into roles, worlds, and stories that historically actors who look like me have been left out of.

It's not lost on me to have the ability to be wearing custom Dior or Gucci, with my box braids or my bantu knots. It's another opportunity to show that Black girls belong in these places and that what I naturally bring as a Black girl belongs as well.

We all have those moments when you're sitting in your feelings and you're sitting in your thoughts and you're taking in what your current situation is.

All of us can relate to when something happens in your life and it just completely changes it. Now you have to figure out how you're going to move forward.

The only thing I'm sure of is that I want to keep doing work that speaks to me.

The Kate Spade woman is a classy sort of working woman who's still stylish.

I'm not one of those people that's like, 'I'm about to serve on this Whitney Houston song at like 2 A.M.' No. Karaoke? I'm just like, 'Live your best life.' We're not worried about those notes, we just living.

I used to climb trees and ride my bike way too fast downhill.

I love big jewelry trends and moments, especially some gold hoops.

I always say, food is the way to get KiKi Layne wherever you want her to go. As long as I'm not cooking.

Seeing all of these beautiful brown faces and having that patience for them to live in whatever it was that they were living in; I was just so blown away by the artistry that I recognized in 'Moonlight' - the colors, the music.

To me Kate Spade represents a woman who still has stuff to get done. She's like, 'yeah I'm stylish but I need to be comfortable and able to move.' I'm excited to be a part of a brand that's meaningful to women in that way.

As an actor, my commitment is to be really mindful of how I'm representing Black women. It's the heart of my drive, and my career is to expand how Black women have been represented.

That love and loyalty, that groundedness, is always there. I got the type of family that no matter how far I go in Hollywood, they will quickly remind me who the hell I am and where the hell I came from.

My mom put me into a performing arts elementary school back in Cincinnati, so I started studying acting in school when I was seven.

When you're a Black actress, the box that we often get put in is so small. And me being a dark-skinned Black actress, the opportunities become so limited in a way that is just wrong. It's not fair. I'm so capable of playing a wide variety of roles. It comes down to whether or not I'm given the opportunity to do it.

I'm just hoping that, as more black artists take control of the narratives that are out there, more opportunities will come around for artists of colour. We want to make the same waves that the white artists do.

The texture my hair, my skin tone; it does work, you don't have to change. But historically we've seen fashion try to change that: straighten your hair, thrown on a super straight silky wig, lighten your skin tone.

I remember growing up and feeling like I didn't really see much of myself represented. Or if I did, there were only a few types of roles that had authority.

People will definitely know that my art has something to say.

I'm very grateful that 'Beale Street' was that opportunity for me to be introduced to the industry in that way and have some doors open for me.

I think I learned the value of being more patient with myself.

We're seeing more black women saying: 'This is who I am; this is what I've been given.' And it's beautiful.

I know for me personally, I'm a person that tends to pull back from the people that love me when I'm going through something.

Instead of asking for permission, we're seeing more artists and creatives taking control over the stories we tell.

I want a career filled with a lot of variety.

It's just always been in my heart to perform.

I left before I had the opportunity to pursue work more widely in Chicago.

Watching 'Moonlight,' I just recognized this patience in the film - allowing moments to live and linger - and I just thought that was so beautiful.

Once upon a time you could actually unplug and it wasn't, like, a weird thing. Now your friends will say, 'I'm fasting from social media.'

I'm very thankful I went to college, because I've seen the difference that it makes for me in the professional world. After graduation, I was building a name for myself in the Chicago theater scene, but there was always this pull to L.A.

We all live in different worlds and situations, so what's the issue with representing that on screen?

Acting is communication. It's giving and receiving.

Aaliyah is my favorite singer.

I could do comedy, action, or even science fiction.

Most Sagittariuses start off really reserved. You gotta check people out, see what they're about, and then once we decide you're cool, then that's when we become super fun and really outgoing. But first we gotta make sure everybody's cool.

I want to push the boundaries on the roles that have historically been given to actresses who look like me. There is so much more we can do. There always has been.

What does it mean when I wear something that makes me look like a Disney Princess? Versus something that's like 'ooh, maybe Kiki Layne can be a sex symbol.' Because these are things that, sometimes dark skin actors with natural hair, we don't get put into those types of conversations.

I'm not extra, I'm not going to be the person walking around the house in an extravagant gown during quarantine.

My mom knew we were going to call me Kiki by birth. I think she had the nickname before she had my name, and she then found the name that would allow that.

When you hear these stories about different cases of police brutality, don't even just make that person just another hashtag, another statistic. That is somebody's father, brother, sister, mother - be more aware of what that means.

It's important for me to not just do the same type of roles and movies that I've seen actresses that look like me do.

I feel there's a really raw quality in the Chicago theater community that's really special.

There was never a moment when I thought I'd be a dentist, I've always wanted to perform.

Will Smith is my favorite actor, because he has so much variety in his career. He's done all types of roles, played in all types of worlds, and to me, that's the fun of acting. That's why I started doing it when I was eight years old, because you get to be whatever you want.