Rising Star Taylor Love On The Five Things You Need To Shine In The Entertainment Industry

Don’t judge your past performances too harshly — it’s always going to look worse to you than to anyone else. You are your biggest critic! No one got to the top without making some mistake along the way. Cut yourself some slack, remember to just have fun!

As a part of our series about pop culture’s rising stars, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Taylor Love.

Taylor Love is a fast-rising actor and voiceover artist from Toronto, Canada. Her big break came at the age of six when she was cast as series regular Kelly Chadway in the iconic American drama SOUL FOOD following the everyday life and problems of the Josephs, a black family living in Chicago, Illinois. The series was the first U.S. primetime television show that featured an all-Black cast.

Taylor has since appeared in several major film and television productions including Workin’ Moms, Most Dangerous Game, Private Eyes, and The Kids in the Hall. Coming up next, Taylor is set to recur in the new and highly anticipated CTV Original comedy SHELVED following the eclectic staff and eccentric patrons in the underfunded Jameson branch of the Metropolitan Public Library. Taylor can be seen playing the role of Sheila Boyd, a caring community leader and law student working part time at the Settlement Desk.

Taylor can also be currently heard voicing the character of Joanna in the new popular animated series Summer Memories following the adventures of best friends Jason and Ronnie as Jason looks back on the most pivotal summer of his life.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

Thank you all so much for having me! I was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario and then spent my time at a performing arts high school years in Brampton, Ontario. I’m the oldest of four siblings with three younger brothers. I was raised by my mom, but I was lucky because we always had family nearby. I grew up having a young family so to this day I still have a great grandparent! I did a ton of recreational activities growing up and I’m so grateful that my mom and grandma enrolled me in sports from a young age. I spent my teen years training to be a lifeguard and a swim teacher, playing high level soccer and competing in equine sports. My grandma told me a long time ago, probably in the middle of one of my rants about how I didn’t want to train to be a lifeguard anymore, that being well-rounded is an asset you can’t buy. And to this day I’m thankful to have been involved in as many activities as I was, for as long as I was — it completely shaped my life for the better.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

From what I’ve been told and from what I can remember, I’ve always been keen to perform. I remember playing by myself in my room and recreating scenes from my favourite movies and just being mesmerized by everything I watched. I used to reenact songs from ‘Grease’ (1978) for my family, I pretended that it was me being attacked by the T-Rex in ‘Jurassic Park’ (1997), and I used to get dressed up in a full Dorothy costume complete with real ruby slippers and a fluffy Toto purse and basket to act out scenes from ’The Wizard of Oz’ (1939). It seems like it was laid out for me from the beginning.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

There are too many interesting stories to pick just one, but I can give you one of the most impactful. I worked on ‘Doc’ (2001) when I was about 7 and it was a great experience. My director was the wonderful Holly Dale, but I didn’t know that then. In 2016 I worked on ‘Mary Kills People’ (2017) and I was told that the director was coming over to talk about the scene. My director was Holly Dale who reminded me she directed me 16-years prior, and she said she saw my name and my audition and couldn’t believe it was me. She said she was happy to see I was still in the business. It meant so much that I was remembered like that.

It has been said that mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I vividly remember a scene I did on ’Soul Food’ (2001) where we were all sitting at the table eating dinner. I had a full plate of food, and I was watching my adult costars eat. So, I ate. Every take. I ate and ate and ate. And then I watched one of my co-stars spit out their food into a bucket. And right then I realized that it was fake — that you’re not actually supposed to wolf down food because the scene can take 15 takes and you’ll feel sick. I learned that day to one — not actually inhale your food while filming, and two — to not watch what other people are doing and copy it. Their choices shouldn’t be your choices!

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

Since the spring of 2020 I’ve been working on an awesome animated show called ’Summer Memories’ (2022), created by the wonderful Adam Yaniv. I play Joanna, who’s a feisty, strong willed, fast talking, kickass soccer playing 11-year-old. It’s a show about growing up, friendship, the childhood memories you wish you could go back to, and most of all — fun. I always leaving my recording sessions smiling and grateful that that’s my job.

You have been blessed with success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?

Absolutely. I’d say first… failure is inevitable, so don’t be too scared of it. Everyone in this industry fails! In fact, if you’re not “failing” then you’re not doing it right. I’ll elaborate. This career path is a marathon and not a sprint. I learned only in the last few years that getting rejected or “failing” was actually setting me up to book future projects. It also showed me that jobs I thought I was ready for were still a ways away. I needed to train more, get better in touch with myself, and find and perfect my process. I couldn’t imagine being here doing the things I am right now 5 years ago — I simply wasn’t ready. And that’s okay! Just remember that rejection absolutely does not mean you’re a bad actor or that you’re not cut out for the job. I know that notion can be hard to accept if you feel like you’re consistently “failing” and it can make this journey emotionally taxing. I do my best to curate my life to support my goals. Those around me know how to support me with what is asked of me in my job, and the more support you have, the better you can approach every audition and persevere.

We are very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?

I think the topic of diversity is more nuanced and also a little less complicated than people think. I want to highlight that the effort and lengths the industry has gone to to have true diversity represented in film and television has been great in recent years. But truth be told — diversity isn’t new. It’s all around us every single day and I don’t look at it like it’s a conscious effort in real life — it exists, therefore it is. Having said that I think first and foremost, it’s important to have diverse representation because it normalizes what society is truly like, especially in major cities. My hometown of Toronto is a melting pot with a lot of beautiful cultures in different pockets of the city. Second, it can introduce those who may be unfamiliar with different cultures, traditions and people to the beauty that lies outside their personal bubble. We live in complicated times right now and the power of film and television has never been more important to convey proper storytelling. And finally, diverse representation is a great tool to tell diverse stories, ones that go outside of the stereotypes and monoliths audiences may be used to. Speaking for myself, there’s so much representation lacking in genres like sci-fi, fantasy and period pieces. My favourite genres don’t tend to represent me very well, if at all. I as an actor want to know there’s room for me to explore my talents within those genres. People deserve to see a little bit of themselves across all the stories we tell.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

1. Rejection is redirection — every audition I didn’t get taught me something and set me up to the book the next one.
2. Don’t believe the hype — especially on your way up, you may be exposed to other artists who you perceive are doing better than you or who are a lot more visible on social media. Don’t get in your head — there’s enough room for everyone! Their timeline is theirs, yours is yours. Your only competition is with yourself.
3. Understanding the whole script/character > Memorization — I really used to stress over memorization. It’s a necessary skill for this line of work but understanding the character and script as thoroughly as possible will aid in the memorization. Don’t stress.
4. Leave some room to live — there was a time where I was so preoccupied with staying available to audition that I did my best not to book out. Living life and taking that vacation gave me the life experience I needed to come back and pour into new characters with my own experiences.
5. Don’t judge your past performances too harshly — it’s always going to look worse to you than to anyone else. You are your biggest critic! No one got to the top without making some mistake along the way. Cut yourself some slack, remember to just have fun!

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

Find your why. If your why is to be the best actor you can be, to hone your craft and to reach new heights with your projects, then you need to ground yourself in that. Watch movies and performances than inspire you and light a fire in your belly. The last three years especially have been incredibly challenging for everyone and pretty taxing on my own mental health at times. I’ve felt burnt out countless times from both my personal life and my professional life, so bad that I almost gave it up. I know with 100% certainty that if I wasn’t so passionate about what I do and dedicated to achieving my dreams I would have told my agent I’m done. My why is what I look to when I’m low and I ask, “why am I still doing this?”, and it’s disciplined me to keep going and push through. While pushing through though, remember to give yourself some grace and prioritize taking care of yourself. If you can’t, turn to those who are there for you and fill your cup before you start pouring again.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Ohhhh great question! I think fun, creative, and educational storytelling about the planet sounds like a dream movement to start. It’s so outside what I normally do that it would completely feed my soul. I love watching documentaries about Earth, animals, marine life etc. and especially the ones that have powerful figures involved. I just finished watching ‘Prehistoric Planet’ from AppleTV and I was so inspired by the storytelling. And the story was about a bunch of beautiful extinct dinosaurs that we’ve never shared the earth with. It was completely CGI, and the only person of influence was Sir David Attenborough, but it touched me like these animals were still here. There’s still time to reverse the damage we’re doing to the planet and if I could inspire a movement that gets people to see more parts of the planet and the creatures that inhabit it, then maybe we can inspire folks to do better in their own homes and towns to lessen the blow against some of our ecosystems. We can’t live without nature, but nature can live without us. And it doesn’t have to be that way!

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

There are a handful who’ve helped me get to where I am, and I have so much love and gratitude for anyone who’s helped me in any capacity. But I wouldn’t be sitting here speaking with you all if it wasn’t for my grandmother. She passed away really suddenly in 2020 and all she wanted was to see me be at the level I currently am, personally and professionally. I’m devastated she’s not here to see it, but I know she’s with me. It was her who opted to get me an agent at the wee age of 4 and it’s ultimately what jumpstarted my career. Another person I’m grateful for is my dear friend and former co-star Richard Short (‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’ (2021)). Long story short, I was on the set of ‘Mary Kills People’ (2017) and I was speaking to my makeup artist about my life story. Richard got involved in the conversation and I mentioned how I had gotten into a prestigious drama school in the US, but had to forfeit my place because of how high the tuition was. I shared my scene with him that day and then I was on my way. A few days later I received an email from him praising me for a job well done on the day, but also that he was moved by my drama school experience. He then offered some resources, words of wisdom and advice. I never forgot that and we’re still friends 6 years later. And finally, I can’t thank Anthony Q. Farrell enough for seeing me, for choosing me and for wanting me to be part of ’Shelved’. Endless love.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

I love this quote and it has been my motto for as long as I can remember. Some folks reading this who are part of a specific genre of people will know exactly where this is from — “all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us”. Said by Sir Ian McKellen in ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’ (2001). I don’t have a ton of quotes that I live by, but this is the one for me. We really do have a limited time on this beautiful planet and it’s up to us to decide how we spend it. That’s all there is to it. Every time I get overly anxious or spend too long feeling unwanted emotions I hear Ian McKellen’s booming voice in my head. And then I exhale and push on.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

Oh no, you all want me to pick just one? I can’t just pick one of anything! The best I can do is give you three, in no particular order. Kate Winslet, Meghan Markle and Sir Ian McKellen. I’d be happy with literally 25 seconds with any of them. All of them exhibit traits that I want to embody both as a performer and as a human being. Some may think being an actor is a superficial and one sided job and that outside of acting, you shouldn’t have a voice. All of these wonderful people have shown that the work we do in life is important, whether that’s through the arts or philanthropic activism.

How can our readers follow you online?

I’m on instagram! @tlovvvve — yes that’s with 4 v’s. The cost of having ‘Love’ as a last name is that getting a a true username is almost impossible. Also on twitter! @thetaylornlove

This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!

I’m honoured to have been able to speak with you! Thank you so much