EDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally ran February 27, 2021.
Houston-born Taylor Polidore is an actress on the rise and budding entrepreneur. The Generation Y member has enjoyed several movie and TV roles, including a recurring role on “Black Lightning,” has also produced her own content and founded a clothing line.
With new projects debuting almost weekly and other projects on the horizon, she took time to speak to her professional journey with the Defender.
Defender: When did you decide that you wanted to be an actress?
Taylor Polidore: I decided that I wanted to be an actress professionally as my career when I was 13, and I never really like looked back from there. It was kinda like, “Okay, this is what I want to do.” I booked my first feature film, “Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins,” and when I went to set and saw everything and worked, I was like, “I don’t want to do anything else. I love it.” And I knew then and stuck to it.
Defender: Was there ever a moment when you asked maybe I need to be doing something else?
Taylor: Absolutely. But it wasn’t until I was a year out of college that one day I just woke up and I was like, “Should I have gotten a job, job? Like a regular job? What am I doing?” I’d never even applied to a full-time, 9-to-5 job. Whenever those thoughts kind of creep into my head, maybe because money was tight, “How am I going to pay for this or do that,” something would always happen to show me, “No, you’re doing what you’re supposed to do.” At one point mom sent me an LSAT book and was like, “You would be a great lawyer.” And I was like, “I’m going to keep that book on my bookshelf to remind me that that’s not what I’m going to do.”
Defender: So, what was your experience like on the ‘Black Lightning’ set?
Taylor: It was amazing. I actually got that audition and it was just a one-line gig. So, I didn’t really care about it because I was like, “This is about to be my rent for the month. It’s not going to make or break my career. I’m just gonna do my thing and leave it alone.” And I ended up booking the job… and they brought me back later that season. Then they brought me back another season … It really became a good vehicle or showcase of, you know, “I can play this type of role.”
Defender: So, how did the clothing line come about?
Taylor: At the beginning of the pandemic, I did a workout challenge on Instagram. And part of the challenge was you had to upload clips of your workout. And as I was uploading these clips, I was like, “I need cuter clothes.” I realized that the cute clothes, they weren’t functional. And some of the functional clothes weren’t cute… I was like, “Maybe I can curate collections of clothes and people will want to buy them.” The first collection dropped in December and it sold out in two weeks. I’m getting ready for the second drop, the second collection, next month, available at GoodBodyAthletica.com.
Defender: Any advice for aspiring actors or entrepreneurs?
Taylor: Trust your gut. Trust your vision. It’s right. You have everything within you to make it happen. Don’t give up on things that you really want, and enjoy the process of making it all happen. Enjoy when it messes up. Enjoy when it works out. Because it all will work out for you.
ABOUT TAYLOR POLIDORE
Education
Clark Atlanta University, BA Filmmaking
Seven Lakes High School (Katy, Texas)
Latest/Upcoming Gigs
“Black Kung Fu Chick” (TV series)
“Snowfall” season 4 (TV series, FX)
“It’s Pony” (Animated TV series, Nickelodeon) voicework
“The Loud House” (Animated TV series, Nickelodeon) voicework
“Curious George” reboot (Animated TV series, TBD)
Social Media
BlackKungFuChick.com
Instagram: @taylorpolidore
Twitter: @TaylorPolidore
Mantra
“I don’t necessarily have a mantra that I live by, but trust God and enjoy life as much as you can. That works with me.”
