GREATEST: Zolee Griggs
The breakout actress and 'Wu-Tang: An American Saga' star gets candid.
Zolee Griggs belongs in front of a screen. Whether she’s playing along-side Ashton Sanders in Hulu’s upcoming Wu-Tang series or offering profound relationship advice to young women on her YouTube channel, her beauty and charm draw in viewers. Born in Los Angeles, Griggs began acting at just two years old in commercial and print work, but when she came of age, she immediately knew it was her calling. “My mom truly knew what she was doing, because there’s no other field for me,” she says.
The 22-year-old actress is balancing her first regular series role in Wu-Tang: An American Saga with growing her organization GRL:WMN, a young women’s conference she started in 2018. Last summer, Griggs hosted 60 girls in Downtown LA from ages 11 to 21. But she has her sights set on even more. “I never saw myself doing a serious dramatic role until Wu-Tang,” Griggs says. “Doing one was honestly the biggest challenge for me, and I’m proud of myself, so now I would love to do something comedic.” A few days after Griggs wrapped filming for Wu-Tang: An American Saga, we talked by phone about becoming a part of RZA’s family, overcoming fear and why she’ll always prefer checks over stripes.
Which came first: your desire to act or your desire to build a community with other women online?
I started acting when I was two years old, so definitely that came first, and that’s always been a platform. The Internet and I are the same age—I was 14 when Instagram started, so that was the first major platform I was on besides Tumblr. It was just a hobby at that time. It wasn’t anything that was marketable or had any financial benefits, but as I developed on social media, so did a market for it. It grew with me, and my love for it grew. I just went with it.
What character do you play on Wu-Tang: An American Saga?
I play Shurrie, RZA’s sister. I’m like, the second household matriarchal figure, because even though we have a mom, she’s handling things in her own life and job, so I have to pick up where she left off. I’m tending to my brothers and tending to everyone except for myself. I’m the little sister that is also like a mother.
How close did you feel to that type of character?
It definitely was an experience just because I didn’t grow up in New York, and I didn’t grow up with the same circumstance that RZA’s family did. But I feel like it’s very easy as a woman to play matriarchal figures because we tend to have a maternal instinct— whether you have siblings or have been in relationships with men or partners in general, you feel a sense of tending to those people, whether you chose to or not. So it’s very easy for me to take on that mother role. It’s harder, for me, as an outspoken woman, to kind of be such a sheep in making sure the house is tended to, and I can’t take care of my own self and put my own needs before [others’]. But that’s more of a Zolee standpoint.
What was it like working with Ashton Sanders, who plays RZA, in the series?
Ashton’s great. He’s such a character. He’s super cool, super honest, super artsy and things without really trying—it’s just naturally him. He doesn’t have to force it. He’s one-hundred percent unapologetically himself, which makes it very easy for me to get along with him, because I respect people who are themselves. You either take them as they are or you don’t, and I respect people like that because that’s how I am.
What was the audition process for the Wu-Tang project like?
I sent in a tape, and then I did a test in front of the producers Alex [Tze] and RZA and the casting director, and then I did a chemistry read with Siddiq [Saunderson], who plays Ghostface and who is my boyfriend in the show. Honestly, it was a quick process. I auditioned in October and right before Christmas—it was like my Christmas gift—I got the show. We started filming in February.
How did you prepare to play Shurrie?
The process was me learning things as I went. I also got to sit down and meet with one of RZA’s sisters. RZA has 11 brothers and sisters in total.
Oh my goodness.
I know, and they combined my character with three sisters. I got to speak with one of his sisters, Sophia, and she talked to me about what it was like growing up as a family and things that made the family work and how they were growing up as the women in the household. And just living in New York for six months was great preparation, because New York is unlike any other place I’ve been.
Since the show is set in the ’90s, was there any reference from that time period that you had to go and Google to figure out what they were even talking about?
I remember somebody brought up Roxanne Shanté, and I was like, ‘Who is that?’ I had never heard of her.
I respect people who are themselves. You either take them as they are or you don’t, and I respect people like that because that’s how I am.
What about the ’90s fashion, since that style of dress is very 2019 anyway?
RZA requested Shurrie always [be] in a dope sweater or jacket, so that was a favorite thing for me.
Did you get to keep anything?
I’m trying to see right now! [Laughs]
How would you describe your own fashion style?
It’s diverse, like life. Sometimes I feel up for it, getting all gussied up and putting on a cute outfit, sometimes I don’t. It just depends on how I feel and where I’m at.
Do you have a favorite sneaker?
Of course I do. First of all, my favorite brand is Nike. Nike is the best. Checks over stripes. I do have the Nike x Sacai Waffles in blue and red. Those are my favorite right now. Just the design of the shoe is crazy. Everything is doubled on the shoe and then it’s got that ledge on the back of it. It’s just dope. Nike has some dope collabs with Sacai right now.
You’re heading back to LA now that you’ve wrapped this role. What are some of your self-care rituals that you do once you’ve completed filming?
Oh, honey, I’m going to Hawaii at the end of the month—like, already booked my flight and hotel. I really want to travel and relax because I’ve been working for six months straight. Before that, I was running ragged with auditioning and being really hard on myself to make sure I booked something, and I finally did, so I’m very proud of myself. I’ve just been in New York and LA for a long time, so I’d love to go somewhere else to just have a reset.
Yeah, I support that for sure. What can you tell me about GRL:WMN. What is its purpose?
GRL:WMN is what I want to be an annual women’s conference. It’s for girls ages 11 to 21. I really want it to be, like, a safe space where young girls know that they’re not alone in the circumstances that they go through, whether it’s relationships or life paths and career goals.
When I was that age, I wanted nothing more than a bigger sister or a mentor to help me guide the way. You can have a mentor who’s older than you, and sometimes there’s miscommunication in the age gap, so you almost feel like you can’t relate and you feel rebellious at that age, because you don’t want to hear advice from someone older. That’s stubbornness in us as teenagers, so having girls who are young and have things in common with each other to get together and be kinder to each other, to share advice, is very important for young development. It’s kind of like a big sister mentorship thing.
There’s a video on your YouTube channel where you talked about not being able to keep a best friend, and you were being so honest and vulnerable. What gives you the motivation to open yourself up like that to complete strangers?
For the younger audience that I have, at 13 or 14 years old, when I was around that age, friendship and stability were things I could not find, so by the time I hit high school, I had so many in-and-out relationship experiences that I was just sharing my story. I felt compelled to and felt okay with doing so because I had other young ladies reaching out to me sharing their stories or just, like, asking me questions for advice. So my best way to cope was to share my experience and try to give the best advice that I could.
Now that you’re stepping more and more into the entertainment industry, are you still having those struggles with developing real friendships or have you been able to work past that?
As a human being, that’s always going to be a struggle, because people are different. Like, literally every little, specific way people were raised is how they become the people that they are. So there’s a lot of different factors of people that go into making you like or not like them. As I progress, I will always have issues with finding people that suit me, but as much as I have issues, I also have a lot of successful and healthy relationships with people that I love. So it’s a balance.
It sounds like GRL:WMN spawned out of the stuff you were doing online with blogging and YouTube.
Exactly. I took what was going on in the digital world and just brought it to life, because I feel like you can only touch people so much online and really get your message through to a certain extent. So I figured, why not do it in person?
That’s awesome. I commend you for that, because people might have an idea, but they’re afraid to go ahead and start that. How do you overcome fear if you do face a challenge?
It’s going to sound really extreme, but for me, I constantly think of later-in-life regrets—and even death. I think about how my fears and my trivial issues are just that—they’re trivial. They‘re so minuscule in the sense of everything that’s going on in the world. Why should I let anything hold me back? Tomorrow isn’t promised, and I don’t want to leave this earth ever feeling like I could’ve done more. So I try to overcome my fears by thinking, ‘Do you want to play it safe and stay afraid and stay in your comfort zone? Or do you want to expand and explore the unknown and you never know what could happen?’ I kind of just like to dive into things and hope for the best.
Do you feel a responsibility to be a role model?
I do, because I know that young women are looking up to me. But I also have a duty to be myself. I know that I can’t please everyone, so I will do my best to make sure the things that I like are positive and beneficial, but also, I’m still going to be myself. I feel like there’s a weird line between being a role model and censoring myself. So I still want to be true to myself, but just make sure I’m exuding the right type of messages when I do things.
What does success look like to you?
Success for me is accomplishing all my wants, big or small, but still striving for more. I know that as life progresses, the things I want now won’t be the same things I want five years from now. So success is striving for better, always, and then actually achieving it. Not just saying it, but actually manifesting it and then doing it—making sure I’m putting in the work, because to manifest, you have to put in the work.
Interview by Amirah Mercer
Photography by Jason Rodgers