“For me, I just stuck to school. I thought you can't be bullied and dum...” — Yvonne Orji Quote

For me, I just stuck to school. I thought you can't be bullied and dumb, so books and I will be friends.

A lot of people hustle differently, and I was like, 'You know what, let me hustle and create, and let me have something to show,' cuz my hustle led to opportunity.

I knew I didn't want to be a doctor but didn't know what I wanted to do. I prayed, and all I heard back was: 'Do comedy.' It was something I had never done before, but I gave in, tried comedy, and the rest is history.

Before 'Insecure,' I was a wedding emcee - a host for weddings. That's a world that a lot of people are not familiar with.

Getting into comedy was difficult for my parents to comprehend. I think now they are really proud I stuck to it.

I grew up getting bullied and fighting a lot.

I think it's incredibly important for kids to be able to express who they are and feel like they can be themselves without being persecuted for it or bullied for it.

I think magazines and interviews make celebrities into this bigger-than-life thing, but I've gotten bullied over trying different things with my makeup.

School was not a good experience. I would get bullied. It was really hard for me to get along with people who didn't have the same goals, so I just wanted to get to California.

Anyone who's been bullied knows what it's like to hear these things, to internalise it and turn it in on yourself and go 'If I was just less ugly, just less this, just more this.'