actresses-from-south-carolina

"Through the process of her opening up, she realized that maybe it is a possibility, and maybe she does have that side of her that she wants to see what that’s about"

"We both wanted everything to feel grounded and really raw. The first time I met Ezekiel, I was like, ‘Yeah, this makes sense. He's perfect for this role.’ So, this is a great feature debut for him, and he really knocks it out of the park."

"The sight of Colella's onstage relationship with the band was something slightly resembling a dodo video of a houseful of puppies at play ... and speaking of puppies, the personal highlight for this dog-obsessed hooman was watching Ms. Colella's eyes tear up while singing about the importance of dogs in our lives."

"Her off-the-cuff commentary was so incredibly relaxed and natural (and sometimes intimately personal) that one would think that Jenn Colella was performing to a room full of friends at her very own birthday party, as opposed to a room full of paying guests in a supper club."

"It isn't just that Jenn Colella's show deserves praise, it isn't just that Jenn Colella belongs on a list of the best, it's that she belongs on a list all her own. I don't believe I have ever seen an artist work a room the way that this singing actress does, and that's what had me gobsmacked."

"Colella has carried several short-lived Broadway shows on her back. It's fitting, then, that she earned her first Tony nomination for "Come From Away," in which she plays Beverley Bass, the real-life pilot who on Sept. 11, 2001, carried dozens to refuge."

"You will fall in love with Kiki, a little four-year-old...played marvelously by an adult, Jenna Colella, steals every scene she romps through in Kiki Baby...Ms. Colella is wonderful, a sensation. She is dressed like a little child, and acts like one, with a deep frown or effervescent glee on her face. She is so good at the impersonation that you really think she’s young, although she is about 5’7”."

"A captivating adult actor, Colella is utterly believable in the role of a four-year-old celebrity singer. Rather than bounding about with child-like abandon or producing high-pitched "little girl" speech, she talks very quietly, yet firmly, pauses a lot, stands still and tenses her fingers—this is a kid trying to be taken seriously...Colella is side-splittingly funny, never cloying, and incredibly lovable—even when Kiki turns into a monstrously spoiled brat."

"And you know. Jenn Colella. that we all think you are hella fine. You know I'm not alone in this belief."

"Stand-up created a platform to weave a story together and trust my own ideas… it gave me a deep sense of bravery as a performer. To be on stage and have a joke fail miserably, and realizing that the world continues to spin. I can get them back in the next breath."

"Doing stand-up, for me, created a deep sense of courageousness. There’s no one else to blame if your screw up. The moments you’re failing are quite devastating. But you realize you can win the audience back with the next joke if you hold on and keep working."

"It was challenging. If you fail in standup you can’t blame anyone but yourself. But it definitely increased my confidence and now there’s really nothing that scares, frightens me in terms of performance."

"I actually went to visit her in her home in Florida, in her vacation home. I got to spend some time with her away from Come From Away, away from the theater, away from interviews, and it was very, very dear. We had long deep talks about our feelings, about our families, about how we move through the world. It really helped me come back into the role this time."

"It was the hardest decision I’ve ever made. I did 1,180 performances, and I’ve fallen in love with the company. It was a career-defining moment that helped me become a more well-rounded artist. But I really enjoy travel, and I enjoy creating my own shows."

"There's a lyric in our opening number where we sing, "I'm an islander." And they heard this and leapt to their feet and started clapping and crying. And the cast just started bawling. We didn't know what to do. It was so beautiful. They really - they gave us the OK to come to Broadway. They really kind of blessed the show."

"To play a living person is one thing, but then to have that person present so often, and I can see her, it's trickier than anything I've ever done…Her hands were over her face, and she was sobbing openly, she said. I'm not a robot -- I could feel something inside of me start to break. And yet, I have a job -- she remained stoic through those five days, and I'm in those five days."

"For audiences to discover that kindness is accessible at all times, not just in the wake of tragedy. That we all have the capacity to be kind, that it is a practice. That it is there just waiting for us whenever we choose to grab it."

"A hug is a tribute to connection between two humans."

"I talk a lot about kindness and gratitude and how those two things can bring us into the present moment and how present moment awareness is key to being not only a good artist but a good person. And we don't just get hired because we have this tremendous talent, we get hired because we're the whole package. People can sense that throughout the day we are in the practice of taking care of others and certainly for a new work you know you're going to be in the room developing with this team, this family, for years and years and years so the energy that you bring into the room has to be something that you practice throughout the day."

"I'm honored that creators trust me to collaborate on their babies. It touches me deeply. Plus I get to start from a blank slate and play. Of all the characters I’ve ever played, Anne is the closest to who I am in the world. It makes me feel very vulnerable but I love it. I’m wide open to this experience."

"What it’s helped me remember is that it’s all a crapshoot — theater. All of the variables that have to be in place for it to be a success, it’s like an alchemy that has to happen. It’s rare that it does, and it’s a reminder to be grateful for each and every moment. So now, every rehearsal, every time I walk into my stage door, I say thank you three times. Because I know that it’s just for now. It’s fleeting."

"It's not just that Jenn Colella puts on a great show, that she is talented, that she is a hard worker, it's the commitment to bringing all the parts of herself to her storytelling, the willingness to lay bare her soul and humanity...It is, apparently, not part of Jenn Colella's genetic makeup to hide herself from the people, and that is where her success as a concert performer resoundingly resonates."

"I think people should stop taking social media so seriously. It is very easy to get wrapped up into the attention that comes with it, but it’s important to remember that those likes and follows are just numbers. What’s really important is your connection with the people and the world around you."

"I love working with directors who have acting experience, because I do believe there’s a connection there that they’re able to speak to that not everyone fully understands."

"I’ve always just loved the horror genre and scary movies. I don’t really know why. Ever since I was a little girl, they were always my favorite movies to watch. They are also one of my favorite movies to act in. There are just really no rules."

"I’m a big reader, so I read scripts like a book, and if it affects me the same way that my favourite books do, I know that’s the project I want to do."

"Never quit. You can’t wait for yourself to happen, you have to go out there and make it happen. If you truly believe in something you can make it happen. Get a good agent. They cost money, but that’s your first step. Your first film opportunities will most likely not be big, but that’s how you’re discovered by others. Eventually a director or a casting director will see you in a minor film/commercial/broadway, etc. and you’ll get your big break. Always be polite and professional. There are often many, many other people auditioning for the same part as you. If you’re not polite or professional they won’t even waste their time with you."

"I fall in love myself, and I want someone to share it with me. I want someone to share me, with me."

"It's all about falling in love with yourself and sharing that love with someone who appreciates you."

"If you forget to come back for Madame Zeroni, you and your family will be cursed for always and eternity."

"If only, if only, the woodpecker sighs, / The bark on the tree was as soft as the skies. / The wolf waits below, hungry and lonely, / And cries to the moon, / If only if only."

"You should go to America. That's where my son is. That's where your future is, not Myra Menke. Her head's as empty as a flowerpot."

"It's all about falling in love with yourself and sharing that love with someone who appreciates you, rather than looking for love to compensate for a self love deficit."

"…When I was 47 I returned to modelling (Ed: for Revlon as well) and I asked that my photos shouldn’t be retouched. Women stopped me on the street and told me that for a long time they felt ignored and invisible and seeing me in magazines made them feel that they weren’t invisible anymore…"

"…I looked the word up in the dictionary – I have had little formal instruction, what I know I have learned by reading, travelling, picking the right friends and the right lovers – and I told myself that I have always persevered..."

"I was attracted to money. I was attracted to the idea of doing what I wanted to do, which was not being a little Southern girl like little Southern girls were for the last, you know, 300 years, but to instead see what it was like to go all over the world and what it was like to be with different people in different places and to see what their lives were like..."

"They have a lot of sayings in Charleston (Hutton's hometown), and one of them is, "beauty is as beauty does." And in order to stay alive and make a bunch of money, I had to hopefully do both. But I had to let the beauty thing go. Beauty is as beauty does."

"It’s only been recently that I can admit that I would jump in trash bins looking for food and I would steal from the corner store because I was hungry. I would fall asleep in school on a daily basis because we had nothing."

"Critics absolutely serve no purpose."

"“I don’t care how sexy or beautiful any woman is. At the end of the day, she has to take her makeup off. At the end of the day, she’s more than just pretty.”"

"“I’m living for my peace and my joy,”"

"‘You can either leave something for people or you can leave something in people’"

"All dreams are within reach. All you have to do is keep moving towards them"

"“You find people in your life who love you, They give you permission to be able to love yourself. That permission was life-changing for Davis. When you are in the face of compassion and empathy, it’s amazing how it kills shame, Because you’re seen for something way for valuable than your circumstance.”"

"“Your ability to adapt to failure and navigate your way out of it, absolutely, one hundred percent, makes you who you are…”"

"I will not be a mystery to my daughter. She will know me and I will share my stories with her—the stories of failure, shame and accomplishment. She will know she's not alone in that wilderness."

""There is an emotional abandonment that comes with poverty and being Black,”"

"“They say to serve is to love. I think to serve is to heal, too.”"

"The one thing I feel is lacking in Hollywood today is an understanding of the beauty, the power, the sexuality, the uniqueness, the humor of being a regular Black woman."

"“I own my story. I own my failures. I’m not interested in being perfect. That’s how I deal [with stress]. I don’t put on a mask. I think that the effort to put on the mask is probably more detrimental than just being able to step up and admit your vulnerability in front of people who have enough empathy for you.”"