Halle Bailey thinks it is “essential” to have a “village of people” around her to help her juggle work and raising her son.
Halle Bailey has a supportive network
The You, Me, and Tuscany actress has two-year-old Halo with former partner DDG and she is thankful to have such a great support system in place because it can be “a lot” trying to balance her personal and professional lives.
Speaking on Josh Smith’s Great Chat Show, she said: “The mommy community that I have is very strong and talking to those women is so special and hearing advice on how you can balance your career and motherhood is amazing.
“I think it’s essential to have a village of people that can help you because when you’re trying to do so many things or, and have so many hats on, it gets a lot at times. But it’s really beautiful.”
Halle’s son is her “motivation” for working and though Halo can be “clingy”, she feels like he’s her biggest cheerleader.
She added: “I feel grateful that I am able to do something for my baby and have a career and work for him. Like today I’m here. I’m like, ‘that’s my motivation.’
“I’m doing this for my baby for our future, and it makes me happy to be a part of things that bring joy and positivity to the world… He’s at the phase where, well, he’s a mommy’s boy, he’s very clingy.
“But when I leave, he’ll hold my face, kiss me goodbye and be like, ‘bye-bye, mommy.’ It’s just very encouraging. I feel like I have a little person rooting for me every day.”
Halle also spoke up on feeling pressured to change her hair when auditioning for roles and urged other Black actresses not to be afraid to speak out about the needs of their tresses when working.
She said: “Growing up, well, I’m from Atlanta, Georgia, and my mom locked our hair when I was five.
“So growing up doing auditions, sometimes people would be like, ‘oh, she needs to change her hair,’ things like that.
“But as you get older you just become more sure of yourself, more confident in your hair and going on to sets. It’s important to learn how to speak up and educate the people around you who are going to be taking care of you.
“It’s gotten easier as I’ve developed more in my career where, you know, I don’t really have to say anything. I can bring the people that I trust to do my hair, but I want to encourage others who are starting off to not be afraid to speak up because it’s your crown. It is special.
“And I personally believe anyone who touches your hair, it’s very sacred.
“So you gotta make sure they’re taking care of you and it’s important, especially being in this industry as a black woman, it’s like our hair is a big part of our identity, so we wanna protect that crown.”
Listen and watch Josh Smith’s Great Chat Show on Spotify.
