I got the Oscar, I got the Emmy, I got the two Tonys, I’ve done Broadway, I’ve done Off Broadway, I’ve done TV, I’ve done film — I’ve done all of it. I have a career that’s probably comparable to Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, let’s say Sigourney Weaver ... They had the same path as me and yet, I am nowhere near them. Not as far as money, not as far as job opportunities — nowhere close to it. People say, “You’re a Black Meryl Streep ... We love you, there is no one like you.” Okay, then if there’s no one like me — you think I’m that — you pay me what I’m worth. You give me what I’m worth.

One of the things we were really tackling tonally for our show was Anthony and I and our rapport — which we have in life obviously and we enjoy working together and busting each other’s balls — and how we translate that to the characters in a way that feels not just like we’re screwing around but it actually applies to the text and the story.