You think the only thing looking at you is this steel thing, but behind the camera is this living, breathing person operating the camera whose job it is to watch you. – Uzo Aduba
My family is first-generation Nigerian, and we grew up in a very small, suburban town in New England, Massachusetts. So I do understand what it feels like to be an ‘only’ in that regard. – Uzo Aduba
When I was little, I didn’t smile much. Don’t get me wrong. I was a happy kid, but I couldn’t stand the space, dead center, in between my teeth. Yeah, I could whistle through it, but so what? That didn’t win me many points on the playground in Medfield, Massachusetts. – Uzo Aduba
I grew up in a very small town in Massachusetts, and it goes without saying that there weren’t many Nigerian families in that town, and a lot of people couldn’t say Uzoamaka. – Uzo Aduba
People were stopping me on the street to say, ‘Oh my God, it’s Crazy Eyes!’ Which is kind of a funny thing to have people shout at you on the street. – Uzo Aduba
I think it’s always a good idea to dress as someone you like, as long as it’s done in good taste. That’s the key. – Uzo Aduba
I loved ‘Ghana Must Go’ by Taiye Selasi. It’s about a first-generation African family living in America that has to return home to Nigeria when their estranged father passes away. – Uzo Aduba
I kept hiding my smile in pictures throughout middle school and most of high school until picture day came my senior year. – Uzo Aduba
The first information I consume in the morning is probably ‘The New York Times’ and then my Twitter feed. I think Twitter is a really fascinating, easy way to stay on top of what stories are out there. – Uzo Aduba
I’ve heard of nothing coming from nothing, but I’ve never heard of absolutely nothing coming from hard work. – Uzo Aduba
I think there’s something really thrilling to having to get people laughing about something, and then, when you have them in that comfort space, you can drop the weight into the texture of the story. – Uzo Aduba
On some days in prison you might just need to get out of there, but on some days – not all days, but some – you might be able to see the sky and see the blue in it. – Uzo Aduba
Onstage, even though you’re here together with the other actor, face-to-face, playing out the scene, you also have that other ear pointed out toward the audience and how they’re listening. That informs a lot. – Uzo Aduba
I come from Nigeria, and we live by the idea that it takes a village. So my entire team. I live by my team: my friends, my neighbors, my teachers – they’re the people who taught me how to be a free actor. – Uzo Aduba
I like to build a character, trying to stretch my imagination as far to the walls of my brain as I can to come up with something that feels truthful and feels real – as close to the skin as I can get it. – Uzo Aduba
As for the fake teeth, they’re officially retired. I haven’t really found a need or want to wear them. – Uzo Aduba
I might literally fall over dead if I meet Oprah Winfrey. I’m kind of joking, but I’m not confident that wouldn’t happen. – Uzo Aduba
I’d read a lot of scripts, and I remember reading ‘Orange Is the New Black,’ and it was at the head of the pack. I remember thinking, ‘Wow, that is really good. I would love to be a part of that.’ – Uzo Aduba
Natasha Lyonne is fantastic on Twitter. She posts hilarious pictures. I don’t even know where she finds some of them; it’ll be like a random picture of a chinchilla kissing a lion or Bill Murray and Jim Belushi out on a boat or something. – Uzo Aduba
In performance, you don’t always feel that sort of family bond right off the top. It sort of develops and grows over time. – Uzo Aduba
I’m obsessed with ‘Scandal.’ I love, love, love it. I’ve gotten to meet all of the cast at this point, and they’re all so, so nice. – Uzo Aduba
When it comes to inmates, we have boiled them down to just the few things we know about them – their crime, their current life situation, their identification number. But the reality is they were something before they were their crime. – Uzo Aduba
