“OMG, you’re Kimmie!” “You’re the girl from ‘Beauty in Black.’” “Ain’t you on that Tyler Perry show?”
These are phrases that Taylor Polidore Williams has heard countless times since her debut on Tyler Perry’s drama-filled series “Beauty in Black” on Netflix. Now, while many viewers recognize her as the stripper-turned-boss from the hit Netflix series, Williams’ life off-screen consists of so much more than looking for her sister (if you know, you know).
The 32-year-old actress is also a proud HBCU graduate, a fierce community advocate, a wife, and, unlike Kimmie, had what she describes as a “magical” childhood.
“This might be my first interview where anybody is, like, really asking about Taylor,” she told theGrio. Growing up in Katy, Texas, a suburb in Houston, Williams grew up with both her parents and her little brother and her large extended “Creole family.”
“As a younger kid, I was pretty shy, and that’s why I got into theater and performing, because it made me not so shy. I think by high school, I kind of had a good grip on it. I was very involved in theater, I had started doing commercials, TV, and film auditions. So I knew very young that I wanted to act,” she added.
Acting and attending a historically Black college or university were two things Polidore knew she wanted to do from a young age. Despite growing up in a predominantly white neighborhood, she was always connected to her culture.
“I have always loved being Black, and I always knew the beauty, the power, the struggle, in the differences, particularly in America, particularly in the south,” she told me. “So I knew, like in eighth grade, I wanted to go to an HBCU as I started researching colleges, it was a very intentional decision, and one that I don’t know it had to have been guided by God.”
Becoming the first in her family to attend an HBCU, Polidore made the intentional decision to attend Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia —a space she knew had a thriving film and television scene. Reflecting on her life experiences and the impact CAU’s motto, “find a way or make a way,” has carried her through life, Polidore spotlighted some of the similarities between her and her “Beauty In Black” character.
“I feel like Kimmie and I are very different in a lot of ways, but I think her resiliency—shout out to Clark Atlanta, ‘find a way, or make one’—I am resilient in that way. If there is something that I want, there’s not much anyone can do to stop me from getting it one way or another,” she shared.
“I do think the protector aspect of Kimmy is something that resonates deeply with me,” she continued. “I’m a big sister, but I’m also an advocate for young people, for children’s rights. I’m a court-appointed advocate for youth and foster care. So when it comes to speaking up for people, particularly people I care about, or groups that have been marginalized, I take that very seriously. And I think in the same vein as Kimmie, it’s easier for me to fight for others than to fight for myself.”
Inspired by her grandmother, who was a foster parent, Polidore quickly became familiar with the gaps in the foster care system. Never understanding how children could be living in unsafe environments without the necessary resources in the system, the actress pursued her training to become a court-appointed advocate, ensuring actual change for kids in the system.
“I advocate for a young person in the system, and just ensure everyone else is doing their job, ensure that they’re not falling through the cracks. Because, you know, a social worker or an attorney may have 30, 40, kids on their slate, I have one,” she said, explaining how hands-on her work is. “It’s been very, very rewarding to have such a hands-on approach, so much so that I’ve started my own nonprofit”
Named after the street she grew up on, Polidore says The Shelter Rock Foundation was created for “children to creatively thrive, to feel safe and to be able to have the tools that they need to become exactly who they want to be.”
“With my foundation, and as my career grows, I hope that I can create those spaces or help fund or just anything that promotes young people being able to thrive, particularly youth in foster care. That’s something that I would want to just keep growing and just, you know, take advantage of as I gain more visibility,” she explained.
Though she and Kimmie are different, Polidore, like her character, says she’s living in a season that feels “too good to be true.” Between recently getting married and the success of “Beauty in Black,” she admits that she has subconsiously asked herself, “When is the other shoe gonna drop?”
But hopefully the shoe doesn’t drop before the release of the second half of “Beauty in Black” season 2. Though she did not tell us the release date, Polidore teased that Kimmie’s future looks “promising, dangerous, and unexpected.”
In the meantime, watch “Beauty in Black” on Netflix and get to know Taylor Polidore Williams on social media (@taylorpolidore)
