PHOTO BY JONNY MARLOW
Actress Taylor Polidore Williams (@taylorpolidore) tells The Atlantan how our city helped ignite her career.
Long before actress Taylor Polidore Williams landed her first role in a Tyler Perry production, she visited Clark Atlanta University (CAU) on a college tour. She was instantly sold; sold on the city of Atlanta, on CAU and on working for Tyler Perry one day.
“The energy was infectious on that visit,” says Williams. “It’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I knew I wanted to continue acting, and I thought, ‘Well, Tyler Perry has a studio in Atlanta. I am going to work for him one day.’”
PHOTO BY JONNY MARLOW
Williams, a Houston native who’s been acting since childhood, got her first role in a feature film at 13. She’s had several other roles in recent years, including in the series Snowfall and All American: Homecoming.
This year, Williams lived out her internal monologue from that CAU tour years before—she was cast in her first film by Perry, Divorce in the Black. That success segued into the leading role in Perry’s first series, Beauty in Black, set to premiere on Netflix later this year.
“This is my first time leading a series, and the role is more complex and layered than anything I’ve done so far,” says Williams. “I’m very honored to have been trusted with the task from one of the most influential filmmakers of our time.”
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