Chances are you’ve seen Tiffany Boone’s face somewhere over the last year. Whether in Hulu’s breakout hit, Little Fires Everywhere as a spot-on young Kerry Washington or Amazon Prime’s original series, Hunters holding her own alongside the legendary Al Pacino, Boone is quickly becoming one of the most sought after actresses in the business. For good reason too. With a piercing grace and depth of ability, she simply invites you in to her character’s world and captivates with ease. Her latest turn in George Clooney’s Midnight Sky has us impatiently waiting to see what’s next from this phenomenally talented star on the rise. I got a chance to catch up with Tiffany as she quarantines in Los Angeles with her husband (Dear White People's Marque Richardson) and their pup, Billy Dee.
Iman N. Milner: You had a big 2020. What do you have coming in 2021?
Tiffany Boone: I spent half of last year shooting a show Nine Perfect Strangers for Hulu and that will be out some time this year. And then we’ll be doing season 2 of Hunters (Amazon Prime Original). That won’t come out until next year probably.
INM: Most people would say you’re in the sweet spot, how are you taking the time to bask in the success?
TB: Last year, when I was doing press for Midnight Sky and everyone would say “you’re having such a big year, how does it feel?,” I didn’t really know how to respond. One, I feel grateful. I feel insanely grateful just to be able to be doing the thing I love to do. But it’s also very humbling because the more consistently I work and the more I get to do things with people I like and have admired, the more I see the presence of God. The more clear I am that all of this is so much bigger than me. In all of our lives. It’s easier for me to just say it’s just another job or I’m just the same girl from Baltimore, it’s easy for me to get to that place. So, I just have moments where I remind myself of that little girl who was looking at Jasmine Guy on TV and saying “I want to do that” and not knowing how it was going to happen—-and yet, here I am. Taking a moment to bask in the gratitude of it and not just make it about myself. I am figuring out how to use my art as activism—-I am always finding ways to do that. Long story short, all those things are moving me towards accepting that I am not drowning, you know? I’m doing pretty good.
INM: You are! I did have that question because, I mean, Al Pacino, George Clooney, Kerry Washington, Nicole Kidman—-these are legends! Have you had to fight any imposter syndrome working on these projects? How do you stand in knowing that you belong in these rooms?
TB: I have imposter syndrome in most areas of my life—-not just acting. I’m pretty open about it because I feel like you see so many people in the industry who just act like they’re so confident and everything just comes easy. And maybe that is the truth for them but, for me, I do really struggle with it. However, no matter what I think of myself, God has put me in this position to be here and these people probably wouldn’t hire me if they didn’t think I could do it. More than that, if I showed up and couldn’t do my job, they would fire me—-and, knock on wood, that hasn’t happened. At the end of the day, they’re icons and legends but they’re also regular ass people. They make mistakes. If I just focus on the humanity of each person and connecting with them as an actor then it’s no big deal, really.
INM: What has been the most helpful thing to remember at this point in your career?
TB: While I’m shooting, every morning, I read a passage of A Course In Miracles and one day, I was having a rough week at work and came across a mantra: “I rest in God”. And it’s so simple but it got me through some moments that were really difficult. Just in general, even though I know I’ve been really blessed, it’s just been so hard on everybody. There have been points where just the pain and frustration of everything that was going on made me feel like I was going to explode. I was on set in Australia when they decided to not do what they should have done for Breonna Taylor and I was just like ‘y’all are going to have to keep doing my makeup because I can’t stop crying’. In moments like that, if I just say ‘I rest in God, I rest in God’. I’m not religious but I do believe in God as in the energy that connects all of us…in every little molecule, love. I rest in love, I rest in God. It just brings peace to me.
INM: That’s so powerful. Thank you for that mantra. How are you making time to love and prioritize yourself?
TB: I’m not the best at self-care stuff, honestly, but I have really made it a point in the last several months to work on my self-esteem. I’ve been really examining thoughts I have about myself, stories I tell myself, the things I say when I look in the mirror, the way I compare myself to others—-it’s like look, you have to start being nicer to yourself. Therapy! Hey now.
INM: Say that.
TB: Good, good therapy. And things as simple as affirmations, literally looking in the mirror and saying nice things about myself. And not being able to walk away until I say it and really, really believe it. I’ve been focused on that. Part of that has been working out and taking care of myself physically. I don’t have a healthy relationship to my body so working out, feeling strong and feeling like I have power over it—-makes me feel better. I’ve always had this thing about being too thin and it’s like ‘well, girl, lift these damn weights and eat this food’, you can do something about it. Reclaiming my idea about how much I can change and how much I can accept about myself has helped.
INM: What are you letting go of in 2021?
TB: Definitely the negative stories I tell myself. I have this idea of certain things that I can’t do. Like my friends can do this or that but it’s not for me. And I’m letting that go. I can do whatever comes in this mind—-may take me a moment to figure out how—-but I can make it happen. So, I am taking limits off of myself in 2021.
INM: Which of the characters—-Young Mia, Roxy and Maya—-are all so different. Which of them would you say taught you the most about yourself?
TB: I’d say young Mia taught me the most through the experience of it. When I first got cast, I thought this is a little guest star thing, get in and get out. After I got hired, I realized what they expected of me—-they wanted Young Mia like for me to build a character off of what she (Kerry Washington) was doing. I saw AnnaSophia shooting and she was doing the young Reese (Witherspoon) character and I was like “oh she’s like…that is Reese right there” and I was freaking out. How could I do that? I can’t do that. Luckily, I didn’t have much time to think about it so I just threw myself in and figured it out. I saw that I was capable of so much more than I give myself credit for. And people will give you space to really have ownership over your work. I didn’t always feel like I could say what I needed or to take creative control and I grew tremendously as an artist from that experience.
INM: When you hear the word beauty, what comes to mind?
TB: A Black woman. It don’t get no better…than that. That’s honestly what I think. Just flashes of every Black woman I’ve ever seen.
INM: When you hear the word wellness what comes to your mind?
TB: Meditation. Quiet. And listening.
INM: When you hear the word love what comes to your mind?
TB: My husband. Yeah, when I hear love, I think of him. I think of my mom, joy and peace. That’s love.