Everyone knows Lorraine Toussaint received various accolades but none knows how she started. She was actually born in Trinidad& Tobago. When she was a child, her family moved to the US in the 1960s. That move open up endless opportunity. She went and received training and eventually graduated from Manhattan’s High School of Performing Arts in 1978. She also trained at Juilliard (Bachelor of Fine Arts, Drama Division, Group 11, 1978–1982) and graduated in Bachelor of Fine Arts.

With that, the opportunity opens up for her to be in stage actress, acting in productions such as Hippolyta in Liviu Ciulei’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Tamara in the world premiere of Toni Morrison’s Dreaming Emmett.

Due to her talents, she finally made it through. In the 1980s, she started featuring in film and in 1986, she portrayed a widow in the TV film: A Case of Deadly Force. She then gets a recurring role as Vera Williams in the Soap Opera One Life to Live. Toussaint made her way to other shows, including 227 and Law & Order.

She also made her film debut in the female lead role opposite Burt Reynolds in the crime comedy Breaking In (1989). References -(starttv)

We list here verified quotes by Lorraine Toussaint.

1)

We all have a dark side. Most of us go through life avoiding direct confrontation with that aspect of ourselves, which I call the shadow self. There’s a reason why. It carries a great deal of energy.

Source (Not Verified): ( Interview with Kristin Downer, nerdprobs.com, November 1, 2015
Takeaway: The parts of yourself you avoid looking at don’t disappear — they just wait for a worse moment to show up.

2)

I find I often do my best work when I’m not attached to the outcome of the audition.

Verified Source: Backstage interview, “Finding Lorraine Toussaint in the ‘Middle of Nowhere,’” December 10, 2012.
Takeaway: Loosening your grip on the result is often what makes the result better.

3)

Once I’m on set, the only thing I’m really interested in is being in the room. Being present. And trusting that what I’ve done is sufficient, and I’m also trusting that I’ve also left room for magic.

Source (Not Verified): Compiled via BrainyQuote — original interview/publication not identified
Takeaway: Preparation gets you to the room — presence is what happens once you’re in it.

4)

We actors are superstitious creatures. We do all the homework and we put all of the components together, but there’s always one key aspect that we’re not in charge of, really, and that’s magic.

Source (Not Verified): Interview with Kristin Downer, nerdprobs.com, November 1, 2015
Takeaway: Effort earns you a shot, not a guarantee — leave room for what you can’t control.

5)

I don’t think anyone would disagree with this: You are self-directed in daytime, and that’s it. So come with it, and bring it on the first take.

Source (Not Verified): Compiled via BrainyQuote — original interview/publication not identified
Takeaway: Nobody’s coming to hold your hand — show up ready on your own terms.

6)

As a modern woman, there are things I take for granted, and that shows up in the way I sit, the way I walk, the way I think, and what I know to be possible.

Source (Not Verified): Compiled via BrainyQuote — original interview/publication not identified
Takeaway: Progress isn’t just policy — it shows up in how freely a person moves through the world.

7)

I meditate. I’ve been a meditator since — I think I was doing it unofficially all my life, and then began to formalize it somewhere around 14.

Source (Not Verified): Compiled via BrainyQuote — original interview/publication not identified
Takeaway: Some habits exist long before you have a name for them.

8)

I think if I weren’t an actress, I might have made a halfway decent attorney! I like the way they think.

Source (Not Verified): Compiled via BrainyQuote — original interview/publication not identified
Takeaway: The skills that make you good at one craft often quietly qualify you for another.

9)

I’ve become very fond of the law. I’ve always been an advocate for justice, which occasionally the law brings to light.

Source (Not Verified): Compiled via BrainyQuote — original interview/publication not identified
Takeaway: Justice and law aren’t the same thing — one is the goal, the other’s just a tool that sometimes gets there.

10)

I grew up a middle class, colonized child of teachers and librarians and people, women especially, who treasured education.

Source (Not Verified): Compiled via BrainyQuote — original interview/publication not identified
Takeaway: The people who value education around you shape what you think is possible, long before you understand why.

11)

Initially I started in theatre as a Shakespearean actress before film and television. I’ve always been an artistic child growing up and I knew I wanted to act for as long as I can remember.

Source (Not Verified): Compiled via BrainyQuote — original interview/publication not identified
Takeaway: Knowing what you want early is a head start — it doesn’t make the path any shorter.

12)

I keep waiting for someone to cast me as the angel or the witch or the immortal of some kind because so much of the reading I do for my own pleasure is fantasy, horror, or sci-fi.

Source (Not Verified): Compiled via BrainyQuote — original interview/publication not identified
Takeaway: What you consume for fun says a lot about what you secretly want to do for work.

13)

My job as an actor is to cover and expose in varying allowance — so that the audience can peek through the window to the people I create.

Source (Not Verified): Compiled via BrainyQuote — original interview/publication not identified
Takeaway: Good acting isn’t hiding or revealing everything — it’s controlling exactly how much the audience gets to see.