A beloved vacation memory:
The whole trip was wonderful, but I was in Santorini and did this day trip with some of my friends. I have a bit of a fear of deep water, but I jumped in and was just floating in the sea. It was a really magical moment where I was with people, but I felt by myself. It was pretty special.
On spotting friendly faces in unexpected places:
There are not a lot of Black folks in Ireland. I was at this castle in Cork, and I was standing on a hill. I see this Black family walking towards me, and I started walking towards them, and without talking, we hugged. Then I was like, “Do you speak English?” They said yes, and I’m like, “Oh my God, I’m so happy to see you!” They said, “We’re happy to see you too!” We celebrated our Blackness and our travel bug on a hill in Cork, and then they went on their way and disappeared. They didn’t know what I did. We didn’t even talk about it! [One of them] said, “It’s just so nice to see a friendly face.”
That actually happened in Thailand, too. We were shooting and there was a Black woman walking on the street with her husband. I was waving at them because I hadn’t seen a Black resident. She was like, “Hey, do I know you?” I said, “No!” She’s like, “Oh, okay… but I think I know you?!” I said I’m an actor, and then she recognized me: “This is crazy. I love The White Lotus!” It’s always cool to see people of color traveling.
A place she could go to a million times and never tire of it:
Big Sur. It’s just beautiful. It takes my breath away every time I go visit. I do nothing there; I think that’s why I love it. I get a little place right by the water, and “by the water” is high up, because it’s where the mountain meets the sea. It’s such an interesting intersection between the ocean and nature; you have giant eagles and hawks and deer, but then you also see whales. It’s a really cool place to be surrounded by natural beauty.
A city she feels is underrated:
If I say this, it’ll get me canceled, but… Los Angeles. I hated on L.A. pretty actively the first two years I moved here. I had never been before the show, so Insecure was my introduction to the city. It wasn’t like The Hills, you know what I mean? It was, Oh, this is Inglewood. This is a different side to the city that is cool and interesting. At the beginning, I struggled with the nature of L.A.: People live in their houses, and in New York, [your home] is a pit stop and your life is lived outside, so I had to adjust to that. But now I’m going into my eighth year, and I figured out its charm. I figured out how to do L.A.
The hotel amenities she cares a lot about:
Room service. I love the decadence of ordering whatever I want whenever I want. And I also do love a bathtub. I like a big obnoxious bathtub, because then you can eat the food in the bath! It all works together.
Where she’s hoping to go next:
I have never been to the continent. I haven’t been to Africa. Specifically South Africa—I have a best friend that lives there, so I would love to go to Joburg. But anywhere on the continent, like Morocco or Egypt. Egypt would be so sick; the nerd in me would go on every tour possible and learn all of the things.
