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We love to hate Grace Gealey as Anika on FOX’s hit hip-hop drama, Empire. She’s a devilish debutante who always seems to get what she wants, and won’t stop until everyone is out of her way. But what do we know about the actress who plays Boo Boo Kitty?
Here are 5 things you need to know about Empire‘s Grace Gealey.
1. Empire is her first breakout TV role.
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2. She grew up in the Cayman Islands.
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Gealey moved to America when she was 18.
3. She appeared in the Off-Broadway play, Venus Flytrap: A Femme Noir Mystery.
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4. Gealey loves working with Terrance Howard, but she is most “in awe” of co-star Taraji P. Henson.
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5. She never wanted to be an actress.
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In an interview with Vibe, Gealey said:
[Cayman Island’s] biggest industries are tourism, hospitality and banking so I never thought ‘I’m going to be an actress.’ I initially decided to go school to be a drama teacher ’cause I was like, ‘Wow I’ll do that all the time if I’m teaching it.’ ‘Cause education is highly celebrated back home. When I was in undergrad, I decided to study drama and halfway through, I realized I wasn’t doing a lot of the performance aspects of it. There was this wonderful woman named Tamara Harvey, freelance director from Shakespeare’s Globe, that was coming as a guest director; she was the one that pulled me aside and said, ‘You should consider this as a career.’
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5 Things About ‘Empire’ Star Grace Gealy You Probably Didn’t Know was originally published on theurbandaily.com
