Loretta Devine Speaks Candidly About Working In Hollywood: 'It's Not An Easy Thing'

While actress Loretta Devine has been a household name in numerous Black homes across the country, her time in Hollywood hasn’t always been easy.

Sharing advice for aspiring actresses at ESSENCE’s Black Women in Hollywood Awards, Devine said, “You really have to have a passion for it. You have to love. It’s bumpy, ups and downs, no rhyme or reason.”

She continued, “I think the hardest thing about being an actress is that you audition for something, you don’t get it, and you still have to watch the person that got it,” Devine told ESSENCE. “You have to watch them and all of [the] success that comes as a result of it and you go, ‘I could have done that! God what’s going on?’ It’s not an easy thing.”

Still, Devine has carved out a space all her own, appearing in favorites like The Preacher’s Wife, A Different World, Waiting to Exhale, and more.

The road may have been bumpy but Devine is proof that if you’re passionate, you can still succeed.