Genneya Walton X FAULT Magazine

Words: Miles Holder

Despite her young age, Genneya Walton already has years of hard work under her belt. Whether it be her training as a professional dancer or her acting career, Genneya’s determination to achieve her goals has pulled her back from the brink of giving up. Lucky for us to, as she can now be seen playing the role of Chloe Barris on Kenya Barris’ latest Netflix show #BlackAF. We caught up with the actress to find out more about her role, her careers and of course, her FAULTS.

 

If you could tell me a bit about your character, what you’ll be playing and just a tiny bit more about the show.

Genneya Walton: #BlackAF is, it’s loosely inspired by Kenya’s insanely honest and flawed approach to things like parenting, relationships, race, culture, and it surrounds a completely unfiltered family just trying to navigate life with new money. Amid all the insanity that we get into as a dysfunctional family, we manage to explore complex topics that are completely unfiltered. My character is Chloe and who, I’d say is effortlessly popular and definitely at times unappreciative. Her exterior is kind of misleading at times because I think she gives really good advice and is more thoughtful than she puts on.

Was it difficult to connect with the character of Chloe when you first saw the script?

Genneya Walton: Honestly, connecting with the character wasn’t too difficult for me. With this particular character, it’s the closest to my age that I’ve ever gotten to play. When I played her, I was 20 years old and I was playing a 19-year-old. I feel like a lot of 20-year-olds of this current time have a lot more in common than not.

Kenya and Rashida gave us complete freedom with our characters even though we are playing real people in that we didn’t have to follow the script and we were able to go wherever we decided to. So that was a huge challenge for me because I’ve never had that sort of freedom with a character to just trust myself and go with the flow.

What is it that you look for in a script that makes you get excited about the character?

Genneya Walton: I would either say reading a paragraph that I can relate to because I know that if I work on something I can bring my authentic self to it. Or on the other hand, I see a character that is opposite to me so that I can explore and stretch my acting abilities and have a huge challenge.

 

You began your career as a dancer and transitioned into an actress, did you ever feel that pressure to choose only one discipline to pursue?

Genneya Walton: I didn’t necessarily grow up thinking I wanted to be an actor because I was set on dancing but acting just happened. Dancing took a back seat to acting but I didn’t necessarily feel it as a pressure, it just kind of happened that way. what’s great is that even in this project I’ve been able to morph both of them together and I do some dancing in the show. I haven’t had to let go of one or the other as they’ve kind of beautifully come together.

 

If you could go back five years and give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?

Genneya Walton: I would say be patient with and trust the process and not compare my journey to others because I think comparing yourself steals all joy. I do wish I had known that back then because I would have been a lot easier on myself if I had just let things happen as they would.

When you look back on your legacy and the work that you’ve done what are you trying to say with your portfolio of work?

Genneya Walton: It’s funny that you say so because I’ve done so much and I think what’s special about being an actor is that there’s always something new to learn. With every project I do, I just want people to see me grow. Not only in the field of acting, but also as a person. I just hope anything I do inspire people, even if it’s just one person because I’m very lucky to have the platform that I do and I just hope it inspires people in some way to just be better in their own minds and to follow their dreams.

What’s been the hardest hurdle you’ve had to overcome so far?

Genneya Walton: I would say it happened before booking this project. I didn’t work for about two years and that was very stressful. Even though I was 17 through 19 years of age during that time iI feel like a lot of people put pressure on themselves to accomplish everything. That, in particular, was hard for me and I almost wanted to quit and I’m glad that I didn’t. So I got past that and I’m really glad I’m here to reap the rewards of not giving up.

 

What pulled you back from throwing in the towel?

Genneya Walton: I’m very lucky to have a very amazing support system. My parents, my sister and my friends really helped me get through that. I kept getting so close to things and the closer I got the more determined I was for the next project. I really had to sit back and, and make sure that this is what I want to do. When I couldn’t see a life without acting, I knew that it was something I had to keep doing.

 

What is your FAULT?

Genneya Walton: My FAULT is comparing myself to others. When I say that, I mainly refer to comparing the successes of others to my own and this is something that I work on not doing. I think making comparisons is a very human thing to do, but it can get to a negative point. With the age of social media, it’s certainly easier to get lost in comparisons, but a great reminder is that there is no one else like you and you hold so much power because of that. Also, acknowledging the fact that social media is not at all real-life haha. It’s weird, I feel like now there is more pressure on young people to have their life together sooner or we so often feel like the time is running out to reach our goals. I honestly fall into that mindset at times. To combat that, I remind myself that everyone is on their own journey and being concerned about where someone else is, just takes away from the experience of your own path to success. Everything happens for a reason and I just have to trust the universe’s timing and go with the flow.