We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Zainab Okeowo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Zainab, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you tell us about a time that your work has been misunderstood? Why do you think it happened and did any interesting insights emerge from the experience?
As a black, dark-skinned woman in the industry, I’m often tossed into one box after another. At the start of my career, I was solely pursuing acting, which is what my major was in college and what my degree is in. I consistently received comments from my teachers that I should be careful about being type-cast as “The Pretty Girl” while they simultaneously solely cast me in roles that were either extremely surface & focused on my looks, or roles that were hyper specific to being black as if that was all I was capable of portraying. Then when I decided to pursue modeling I was often booked for one type of look, people were incapable of using their imagination when it came to me but somehow it was so easy to see other races and complexions in every genre possible. From then on, I knew if I wanted to see myself and people that looked like me in a wide range of genres, I’d have to create those opportunities myself, and so, I did.
Zainab, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
So my name is Zainab Okeowo, I’m a Nigerian-American actress, model, and writer who was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. I’ve always had a deep love and respect for the creative arts as long as I could remember. My sisters and I were obsessed with recreating scenes from our favorite TV shows which included series like Charmed, Wizards of Waverly Place, H20 and more. I partook in almost every school play there was in elementary school and then followed in my sister footsteps in middle school and took up dancing. It didn’t take long for me to realize I didn’t LOVE dancing, I just loved the performance aspect, and that’s when it hit me. It gave me the same feeling I got when I performed in theater, and since then I haven’t looked back. Today as I patiently (kinda lol), await my acting career to take off, you can probably find me some of your favorite musicians’ music videos which include artists such as Juicy J, Wiz Khalifa, Asake, Babyface, Babyface Ray, YG, Yo Gotti, Blxst and many more.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
One of my biggest goals is to provide people with hope. Not many know my journey and what I’ve struggled with as I make my way up the ladder in this industry, but I want people to look at me and see that you CAN create a name for yourself no matter where or what you come from. Opportunities for people that look like me may be few and in between BUT they DO exist, and it’s our job to find them so that we can create more of them for those that follow us.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
It’s okay to ask for help. This world has made us look down on people who ask for help and think that they aren’t hard workers because they’re “asking for handout,” when in reality, everyone needs help. No one in a position of power or influence got their seat by theirselves. Work hard, yes of course, put in the time and effort, but BECAUSE you’ve put in the time and effort, it’s okay to ask someone to help take you to that next level.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: zainab.okeowo