Quotes from Aja Naomi King

There are people who do what they believe is right, but as they say, 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions.'

I saw 'Birth' at the Sundance Film Festival with a thousand other strangers, and I couldn't believe that was me in the film. I didn't recognize myself.

I think it's well-known that I love all things ABC and Shonda Rhimes - I'm a huge 'Scandal' and 'Grey's Anatomy' fan.

A man should be well groomed. If you're going to have facial hair, it should be a choice, not an accident.

The problem of sexism is getting better, but I don't know if it's getting better fast enough. We see more roles for women that don't entirely revolve around the way in which they function in a man's life, but typically those women are almost always white, and even then, there are only a few of them.

I've been trying to eat healthier, but sometimes it doesn't work out when you're sitting in front of the TV drinking wine, and you realize you really need ice cream to go along with it.

As artists, we thrive when we can express our comfort and our discomfort. If a certain scene is really challenging for us, if we're in an environment where we feel safe, we're able to do our work.

It gets a little crazy at Disneyland. It's a little bit more hardcore then people think.

I'm at a place where I want to have fun. I want to be challenged. I want to love the people I work with and continue to appreciate being in the position to work and play and explore.

TV is such a great medium in what it can do in terms of enlightening an audience. We can really inspire and teach people about other people. That's a powerful tool, and that's something that the arts has always been capable of doing.

The advice that I was always given when asking for advice about acting was that if I could imagine myself doing anything else, anything else at all, then go do that.

It was a given at UCSB that if there was a role that called for a person of color, it was going to be handed to me. There were certain times when maybe I didn't try as hard. Going to Yale was a way more diverse experience.

By high school, I was telling everyone, 'Oh, I'm going to be a doctor when I grow up,' because my dad was always saying to me, 'Pick a career path where you're always going to be necessary.' But by junior year, I was president of choir, I was the lead in the school play, and I just loved being onstage performing.

If I had a free afternoon, I would play music, sit in my backyard, and drink coffee.

I love thigh highs, heels, shorts, or a skirt.

A man can get my attention by smiling at me and then coming over and talking to me. The best way to get a girl's attention is to start a conversation.

In this day and age, when there are so many people creating work online and writing their own shows, I wouldn't tell another actor, 'If you can do anything else go do that.' I would tell them to figure out the story they want to tell, to figure out what artists inspire you and why, and then figure out a way you can create that for yourself.

When I was younger, my mother tried to get me an agent because I was always singing and dancing, but whenever she took me to an audition, I would just shut down.

When I was younger, it was harder for me to find a black eyeliner that would actually show up on my skin. Being a dark-skinned woman, when you find something that actually shows up on your face, you love it even more.

I'm a little bit of a control freak, so it's been nice to learn to let go and just trust others.

Back when people couldn't read, other people would take newspapers and turn them into theater so that people would know what was going on in the world. That is a powerful thing.

Not to say there's not good TV out there, but I think TV is better when it accurately reflects the world as it is.

Your artistry is a muscle that needs to be exercised, so if all you are doing is auditioning, you'll never get the satisfaction of fulfilling the need to play the part.

My favorite spot to hang out is my home.