14
The actor almost had a music career.
In 2000, a 14-year-oldJurnee Smollettwas already a seasoned professional.
They wanted me to do the pop, Britney Spears throw in of stuff, she says.
I love that music.
I danced to it all the time, but it just wasnt me.
I was struggling with so much, the 36-year-old actor says.
I can help you with this.
She tried everything, from lemons to olive oil, but she couldnt get her skin to calm down.
When I look at pictures, I’m like, Oh, Jurnee.
Oh, oh, oh.
You were massively failing at this.
Smollett was homeschooled, and her family was her whole world.
There was her Chow Chow, Judy named after Judy Garland and the familys several cats.
Just like her mom, they were always in her corner.
How did you feel about acting at 14?
I think I’ve always loved what I did, so I definitely wanted to be working.
That was my first time meeting him.
He played Uncle George.
But I remember that script.
She didn’t even read the script for it.
She gave me a trick that I actually still do.
I actually still do that.
What was it like being in an early stage of your career and working with so many legends?
It was more so, for me, I had this real level of curiosity about them.
I just wanted to be in the same space and see how the magic was made.
And they’ll also be truthful when it’s not solid.
You learn from that just as much.
You were already working for a social justice organization at 14.
What did that work look like at this time?
I was working with this organization called Artists for New South Africa.
We were doing different fundraisers during that time, actually.
That’s when the election was stolen.
Oh, you’re right.
I remember actually wrappingRuby’s Bucket of Bloodand then watching that election go down.
People who as adults wouldn’t say they’re angry people, at 14 were angry or angsty people.
What was your emotional register like then?
Oh, I was struggling.
It’s all those things that were happening to me.
I had a real connection to certain musical artists at the time.
I would listen to the Beatles' Real Love on repeat at night and go to sleep to it.
I was heavily into the Joni MitchellBluealbum and would reread Michael Jackson’sMoonwalkerautobiography dozens of times.
This is the strange person that I was.
It was a lot.
Were you finding a community of people your age who could understand what you were going through?
No, not at all.
I was taking martial arts classes and trying to get my anger out, in that sense.
I was actually excelling in the TaeKwonDo.
She was kicking ass.
I was homeschooled, so I had my siblings, and we would play softball games all the time.
Every weekend we would all gather on the field and play softball games.
Even the ones who didn’t want to play.
They were forced to play.
What do you think your 14-year-old self would think of you now?
I think navigating adolescence, navigating adulthood, womanhood is very challenging.
Even with all the books written about it, there’s still no manual on how to do it.
And I imagine that doing that while building a career in Hollywood adds another level of complication.
Yeah, it’s my life.
It’s the only thing I do.
Everyone has their own complications.
I do believe that God gives you something to work with and something to work on.
I don’t really sit around being like, “Oh, woe is me.”
I get paid to do what I love.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
This article was originally published onOct.
