Jurnee Smollett Quotes:

When I was younger, I really struggled with confidence. You go through those awkward, dorky, geeky stages, and growing up in the industry amplifies all that. Fortunately, I have a mother who encouraged me to build my confidence from within and embrace my imperfections.

Topics: Mother, Growing Up, Imperfection, Dorky

Never let anyone silence your voice.

source: - "Hillary Clinton Delivers Powerful Commencement Address: 'Never Let Anyone Silence Your Voice'". www.hollywoodreporter.com. June 8, 2017.

Topics: Voice, Silence

When I was younger, I really struggled with confidence.

There's a level of shame attached to our history, and we need to replace that shame with pride and own our history. These are our superheroes. These are our people, and I would love to see us own this side of our history with pride.

source: - "Jurnee Smollett-Bell Gets Deep About Underground, a Slave Narrative That Will Make You Proud to Be Black". Interview with Ronda Racha Penrice, www.theroot.com. March 9, 2016.

Topics: Pride, People, Superhero

Maybe you should think about the choices in your life, how someone can come and spit some kind of game to you and make you doubt every single thing that is your life, your relationship, your appearance, your job, your ambitions, your marriage, and how those thoughts can lead to choices and behavior that you never thought that you were capable of.

Topics: Jobs, Ambition, Thinking

I read slave narratives, books like Bullwhip Days, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. [The Root's chairman] Henry Louis Gates has an amazing documentary called Many Rivers to Cross - really, his whole writings; he's such a wealth of knowledge.

source: - "Jurnee Smollett-Bell Gets Deep About Underground, a Slave Narrative That Will Make You Proud to Be Black". Interview with Ronda Racha Penrice, www.theroot.com. March 9, 2016.

Topics: Girl, Book, Writing, Wealth Of Knowledge, Slave Girl

As an artist, you want to stretch. That's the only way you're going to grow. If I stay inside my comfort zone, do roles that I've done before, then I'm never going to get better as an actress.

source: - "The 'Temptation' of Jurnee Smollett-Bell". Interview with Kelley L. Carter, www.ebony.com. March 28, 2013.

Topics: Artist, Get Better, Comfort, If I Stay

Fortunately, I come from an activist mother, so I didn't have to rely on the history books. The history books teach us nothing about the Underground Railroad aside from Harriet Tubman. So I knew more about it but, obviously, I had to dig deeper and expand my knowledge and do a lot of research once I took this project on. I had, like, a good two months to research before we started shooting, which isn't a lot, and I continued it throughout the five months of us shooting.

source: - "Jurnee Smollett-Bell Gets Deep About Underground, a Slave Narrative That Will Make You Proud to Be Black". Interview with Ronda Racha Penrice, www.theroot.com. March 9, 2016.

Topics: Mother, Book, Two, Dig Deep, History Books

But really, for me, I tried to find first-person accounts. I tried to read stories from men and women who had survived slavery because it's different when you hear it from their mouths instead of reading it from a history book.

source: - "Jurnee Smollett-Bell Gets Deep About Underground, a Slave Narrative That Will Make You Proud to Be Black". Interview with Ronda Racha Penrice, www.theroot.com. March 9, 2016.

Topics: Book, Reading, Men, History Books

For me, seeing our history told in this light, the ones who did rebel, the ones who did revolt, the revolutionaries, excited me. Seeing this story of the Underground Railroad ... and that is such a proud part of our history that not a lot of us know about, where these brave men and women, they were heroes, really helped tear down the system of slavery just by running.

source: - "Jurnee Smollett-Bell Gets Deep About Underground, a Slave Narrative That Will Make You Proud to Be Black". Interview with Ronda Racha Penrice, www.theroot.com. March 9, 2016.

Topics: Running, Hero, Men, Underground Railroad

One of the most tragic things about slavery was the mental enslavement, the way they made us believe that we were worth nothing; and that's what she's fighting against.

source: - "Jurnee Smollett-Bell Gets Deep About Underground, a Slave Narrative That Will Make You Proud to Be Black". Interview with Ronda Racha Penrice, www.theroot.com. March 9, 2016.

Topics: Believe, Fighting, Slavery