Tessa Thompson

Tessa Thompson in 2019

Tessa Lynne Thompson (born October 3, 1983) is an American actress.

Quotes

• The film itself is sort of an indictment of Hollywood. With black people, why is everything that we do wrapped in Christian dogma? Why do we only have to be the sassy black friend? It was incredible to be able to talk about the frustration that I’d had in this industry, in a film. And then it did so well. So that became my North Star.
  • On her role in the film Dear White People in “Tessa Thompson interview: ‘Men should have the responsibility to deal with their toxicity’” in Independent (2018 Nov 30)

• Because it’s set in the world of boxing, and about men, there’s a real danger of it just existing in a real toxic masculinity space…And while I don’t think it should be the role of the women in the film to soften that entirely – like, men should have the responsibility to deal with their toxicity,” she laughs, “I do think that there’s a nice opportunity for the women in the film to come in and be like, ‘Hey…’ you know?
  • On her role as Bianca in the Creed franchise in “Tessa Thompson interview: ‘Men should have the responsibility to deal with their toxicity’” in Independent (2018 Nov 30)

• I had all but decided to take a break and do some plays, and to see plays and read books and not work – literally not work – until I was going to burn for something.
  • On turning down the roles Hollywood was offering to her in “Tessa Thompson: ‘I decided not to work until I burned for something’” in The Guardian (2018 Feb 16)

• So me saying that only 4% of those films are directed by women, there's a misconception for some people in Hollywood that that's the pool of talent. And you see that in the indie space, women represent maybe 28% of films that are made. So it exists in the pipeline — people are making a conscious decision not to hire those women and not to put them up for projects. Also there's still this language that I really hate, with a studio movie, that we "took a risk,"…
  • On inclusion in Hollywood in “Tessa Thompson, New 'Men In Black' Agent, Found Inspiration In The Originals” in NPR (2019 Jun 14)