Actress Zoë Kravitz is opening up about the entertainment industry's beauty standards and its impact on her life.
Since Kravitz --the daughter of singer Lenny Kravitz and actress Lisa Bonet-- made her acting debut nearly two decades ago in 2007's No Reservations, she has been a force to reckon with.
Over the years, the 34-year-old has selectively chosen roles that best showcase the range of her abilities and has remained authentic to herself by speaking up about issues she feels are essential such as Hollywood's pushback toward Black hairstyles.
Earlier this year, in an interview with Elle magazine, Kravitz shared details about the struggles she faced within the entertainment industry because she wanted to wear a protective style, mainly micro braids, and how Hollywood has changed its tune following the murder of George Floyd and the rise of Black Lives Matter movement.
Zoë On Wearing Braids In Hollywood
In the discussion, Kravitz disclosed that before Floyd died in 2020, she was often "fighting" about how she would wear her hair on the set of numerous projects, including photo shoots.
The High Fidelity star recalled when she went to various photo shoots with her braids, a stylist asked her to remove them so that her hair could be done differently. Kravitz added that her direct response to the request would always be "pretend this is the way it grows out of my head."
Kravitz shared that the reason behind her statement is because of how long it takes to get her hair done, and over time, she noticed that her white counterparts weren’t receiving the same treatment when they would change their looks by dying their hair.
"[Pre-George Floyd], I was constantly just fighting [about my hair] and being asked to change it. I would do a shoot, and this still happens to be honest, where they'll say, 'Can you take your braids out? Because we want to do something else.' And I always reply, 'Pretend this is the way it grows out of my head," she said.
"You don't ask people that have long blonde hair to change their hair every time they do a shoot.' It's interesting that I'm often asked to pop them braids out. Do you know how long this takes? And it's also the way I wear my hair."
When the topic shifted to how long it usually takes for Kravitz to get her micro braids installed, The Batman star claimed that it can take about "12 to 15 hours." During those moments when Kravitz is getting her hair done by two braiders at a time, she uses it as an excuse to relax by smoking weed and watching films.
Zoë On Hollywood Becoming More Conscious
Further in the interview, Kravitz explained how Hollywood and the entertainment industry have changed in recent years and the work that still needs to be done.
Kravitz revealed that Black people in the entertainment industry are now being offered roles that "go beyond stories about being Black." The Big Little Lies star added that Hollywood still needs to grow in some aspects by making room for more Black female directors, particularly when it comes to telling the story of other Black people.
"I think there's more of a consciousness around making sure that Black women, Black people, get to be a part of stories that go beyond stories about being Black, and then also finding ways to bring that truth into a story. For a long time, it was about being—if it was a Black woman, with a white man, it was about that, you know what I mean? It couldn't just be a love story between two people," she said.
“I think that's really exciting. And ways I would like [the industry] to continue to grow—I want more Black directors. I want more Black female directors. In terms of telling our story, I would be excited to work with more Black female directors. So let's make more room for that."
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Feature image by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for Tiffany & Co.
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Skylar sees things differently. At the time, she was shooting content on her iPhone. Temi came into the picture with a new perspective, an understanding of tech, and, eventually, a camera. “He doesn't give himself enough credit,” Skylar says. “He wasn't just my tripod. He wasn't just standing behind the camera and going ‘click.’ He was giving advice. He was giving me insight to how I could look at things from a different perspective. And I was like, 'Oh, he’s an artist.' I think it was maybe a heartbeat of that kind of energy of like, ‘Baby, can you take this picture?’ And it turned so quickly into, we're partners. We can work together in a way where we're advancing each other's creative thinking.”
The pair often says they’re two sides of the same coin. Skylar is an Aquarius. She attended art school, paints, and loves poetry. She’s more than happy to let the couple’s management firm and agency, Kensington Grey, handle their admin work. And, she loves to sleep in. Temi, on the other hand, wakes up early. He’s a Virgo. He loves a to-do list and regularly checks in on the couple’s brand partnerships spreadsheet to make sure everything is on track.
Because his storytelling was steeped in his love of technology, he didn’t always think of himself as a creative person. “Where I [am] the dreamer who wants to pluck things out of the sky and spend all day with my head in the clouds, Temi [is] so good at grounding me and helping me figure out how to make things make sense on paper. We just work together in such a complimentary way,” Skylar says.
It’s been more than six years since Brooklyn-based couple Temi and Skylar started dating, and nearly four since they cemented their working relationship. On TikTok and Instagram, the couple’s travel, fashion, and home content regularly rack up hundreds of thousands of views. They’ve worked with brands such as Coach, Aesop, Away, and Liquid IV, bringing their vibrant perspectives to every campaign they execute. Still, nearly two years since both Temi and Skylar committed to full-time content creation and creative directing, the couple says their romantic connection remains their priority.
“We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting,” Skylar says.
Working from home can make it hard to separate work from personal life for any entrepreneur. It can be even more challenging when your business partner is also your lover. Temi and Skylar had already used couples therapy as a tool to help them effectively communicate with one another. When they ran into challenges while working together, their therapist helped them set physical boundaries to help combat the issues.
"We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting."
“It actually took us doing very specific physical things to create boundaries between work and play in our relationship,” Skylar says. “So, for instance, we will only have conversations about work when we're out of bed or we're at the table or in the office. Initially, when we started, we had to light a candle to say that, 'Okay, this is a space where we're connecting, we’re not talking about work.' We needed really hard boundaries at the top. And then it became a little bit more organic.”
The boundaries have been crucial to implement, especially because the couple began working together so naturally. When the pair first met, Skylar was NY-based a social strategist for BuzzFeed and was using content creation to drive business to her lingerie company. She was shooting her own content. Temi was working for Microsoft in D.C. He’d recently traded in his DJing equipment for a camera. “I've always loved taking pictures,” he says. “Even when I was a kid, my African mother would wake me up at 3:00 a.m. [during a] party, and be like, 'Come take the family picture.'”
Growing up, Temi says he watched his parents support each other and be the true definition of partners. He knew he wanted the same for his own relationship. But, the couple also wanted to make sure they were being financially responsible. The pair didn’t quit their traditional jobs until they’d saved up two years' worth of their cost of living. And, Temi received his Master of Business Administration from New York University with the knowledge that it could either help him advance in his corporate career or be applicable to his business with Skylar.
Temi and SkylarCj Hart @hartbreakToday, they say their working relationship is more of a “quiet dance.” They still implement some of the boundaries they learned in therapy, but they also lean into their natural strengths and deep love for one another. When we speak, Temi has planned a date for the couple to see Princess Mononoke in 4K IMAX and added it to their Notion so they can factor it into their busy schedules. “I fully plan to date for the rest of my life,” he says.
Skylar says the couple doesn’t just wait for date nights to check in with one another, though. This often happens in the mornings, after Temi has made her peppermint tea and poured himself a cup of coffee. When they ask each other how they slept, she says, it’s not just a “nicety.” It’s a genuine question meant to foster connection.
“A lot of it happens during the day in the midst of work. We'll stop and we'll hug. Or we’ll slow dance in the kitchen,” she says. “Sometimes it's hard to set a whole date night when you have 7,000 things going on. So, we must grasp these moments and check in when we can. And I think it's become so organic to us that I actually didn't even realize how often we do it. But all day long, we're like, 'Are you good? I felt like your energy shifted,' because we're best friends, we just know. We just feel it happen.”
What’s better than being in love? Building wealth while doing it. Watch Making Cents here for real stories of couples who make money moves together.
Featured image by Cj Hart @hartbreak