Laura On Her Engagement

“It was really simple and sweet in Paris. I never wanted one of those big showy public engagements. That’s just not my personality.”

Laura On Knowing That Her Fiancé Sam Was the One

“The cliché of when you know, you know. I never really believed it until that happened to me. It’s a funny feeling when you just find peace and calm.”

“I also really do believe that you need to be ready within yourself before you can find somebody else to be with, which I also always thought was a cliché until I felt secure within myself and the person I am and where I’m at in life.”

Laura On Colorism In Hollywood

“Some of the most successful actresses of color tend to be on the lighter side and that’s definitely not okay. There are so many facets to the Black experience. There are so many ways that Black people look, and only having one narrow view is something that I think is ultimately putting everybody at a disadvantage—we’re only shortchanging ourselves when we don’t show a diverse range of stories and a diverse range of people onscreen. I do think it’s something that’s slowly starting to change, but even when we were doing Spider-Man, I would get called 'Zendaya' all the time. People wouldn’t even take the time to differentiate us.”

Laura On Black Women Taking Up Space In Hollywood

“Yeah. I’ve definitely seen it on both sides, which is really exciting and promising. Within the past few years, I’ve noticed a lot more female showrunners, female directors, female writers in ways that I was not seeing at the beginning of my career. It was so rare to walk on a set and see women, especially women of color, even people of color in general. The sets in Hollywood have been so white-male dominated for such a long time. I have seen that change recently, which is really cool and exciting.”

Laura On Using Therapy As An Act Of Self-care

“I’ve learned tools through therapy. I really am a big advocate for therapy and for mental health care, especially in the Black community. That’s something that’s really improved my life and really helped me in significant ways, especially with dealing with my anxiety and panic attacks.”

Laura On Prioritizing Mental Health

“I definitely believe that mental health care should be prioritized just as much as physical health. There’s been such a long history of ignoring mental health problems, of saying, 'Oh, just suck it up' or 'I’m a strong Black woman. That doesn’t happen to me.' All of these tropes that we’ve been taught over generations, when actually, I think given generational trauma, of course there are a lot of mental health issues within the Black community. I’ve been working with a really amazing Los Angeles–based organization called BEAM, which stands for Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective. They help people find resources, therapists, and also natural care, like Reiki.”

Laura On Meditation

“I try to meditate. I can’t say that I’m the best with my track record of doing it every day, but I try to at least do some deep breathing. I noticed I literally forget to breathe, which sounds wild, but sometimes I’m like, 'Wait, I haven’t taken a real breath all day,' and just taking 30 seconds to sit and do deep belly breathing is a game changer. Also, I think it’s so common to talk only about self-care as meditation, yoga, and working out, which are all important, but sometimes self-care is having a glass of wine with your best friend and laughing and watching sh–ty reality TV. Watching The Bachelor and drinking wine with my girls is awesome. Sometimes that’s the self-care that you need.”

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