American actress
Rutina Wesley (born December 21, 1978) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Tara Thornton on the HBO television series True Blood and Nova Bordelon on the OWN television series Queen Sugar.
My body is a reflection of how grateful I am for my life and my health; there are a lot of people less fortunate than me.
People can be really mean - they say the most vicious things.
Kristin Bauer is so funny. Half the time I'm working with her I'm just trying to keep a straight face.
I'm in a comic book now. That was cool. That's something that I'm still sorta reeling about, 'cause I read comics as a kid. Someone drew me, and actually did a pretty good job!
I was born and raised in Las Vegas, and then I left there to go to the University of Evansville where I majored in theatre.
I feel incredibly blessed. I'm happy, but all of this movie business, and working as an actress is really hard. When you're not working is when you have to stay positive and remind yourself that you're talented. What's due for you is due for you, and you don't know when that's going to come. That's something I struggled with after I got out of school, wondering how long I was going to have to wait. Then beautiful jobs started coming to me. Now, I feel that my path is going to be what it's going to be, and as long as I relax and breathe, I can enjoy it.
The reason I trained so hard in school was so that I could be versatile and play any character. With all these in my bag, I'm like a chameleon. I always tell other young actors to go to school, or at least watch movies to learn as much as you can.
For me, I've gotten away from feeling I'm too dark. we're all women of color, and a lot of us are doing some great things. I think it's important the great things that we all do instead of asking, 'Why didn't I get this?' or 'Why did the light-skinned girl get that?' instead of focusing on the positive. That what I and some girlfriends of mine are doing, celebrating all colors and all ethnicities of women of color. That's a better way to go, rather than bringing all the negativities into it. It so much easier to smile and have fun than it is to hold grudges.
I got out of Las Vegas after high school. I knew that if I stayed there, I wouldn't have been able to pursue my dreams as an actor or dancer. My family always told me to dream big, so I made sure that I got out of there and explored new places, because the world is huge. And I'm still learning new things every day in this business and in my life.
I think that an actor shouldn't work from a place of fear, because it'll show in your work. You should work from a place of contentment, relaxation, and coming from your heart, and from the truth of yourself.
I enjoy working with Deborah Ann, I think she's brilliant. It's been a joy.
Id like to do a romantic comedy like Notting Hill, which is one of my favorite movies.