And the Oscar goes to…
Source: Focus Features
Teyana Taylor the actress is back and ready to collect her awards based on her heartstring-ripping performance in the powerful trailer for A Thousand and One that will leave you in shambles.
Source: Focus Features
A Thousand And One follows unapologetic and free-spirited Inez (Teyana Taylor) who kidnaps her 6-year-old son Terry from the foster care system. Holding onto their secret and each other, mother and son set out to reclaim their sense of home, identity, and stability, in a rapidly changing New York City.
Check out the trailer below:
The buzzy film was awarded the U.S. Grand Jury Prize that amplifies fearless and dynamic stories after premiering at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
Jury citation: “Never have I seen a life so similar to my own rendered with such nuance and tenderness. I walked out of the theatre and wept in front of people I barely know because this film reached into my gut and pulled from it every emotion I’ve learned to mask in these spaces. As a jury we know how impossible it is to make work that is real, full of pain, and fearless in its rigorous commitment to emotional truth born of oppressive circumstances. It is our honor to award the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic to A Thousand and One.
Taylor was the talk of Sundance where she promoted the buzzy film alongside doting husband Iman Shumpert and gorgeous daughters Junie, 7, and Rue, 2, who continue to be the flyest kids in Hollywood.
Born to play this role, Taylor opened up about the process of making the deeply personal film.
“I’m from Harlem so when I saw that, I thought it was super dope,” said Taylor about starring in the film.
“I’ve never really had a serious role. I felt like I never got the perfect opportunity to be able to show people what I can do. This is going to change everything for me.”
“It was scary and fun at the same time. I had just had a baby. I was six months postpartum. As a mom, I was dealing with that. Life can come at you, but A.V. (the film’s writer/director) can protect you. She told me to put everything I was going through into Inez. I feel like I needed to go through that to be able to bring Inez to life. If she did this a year before, I probably wouldn’t have even been the same person I was when we actually did it.
“I even brought in things from the past, all the people that didn’t believe in me, all the people who never gave me the opportunity or even stopped to watch my tape. Like, ‘Oh, this is Teyana Taylor and she’s a celebrity and she’s used to playing this kind of role.’ I put all of that into the person that I feel like believed in me at a time when I didn’t even believe in myself. I didn’t think I could do it. I put my hands up, I surrendered, I prayed. I felt like it was already written.”
A Thousand And One opens in theaters March 31, 2023.
