Quei Tann Is Giving Us Inspiration and Versatility

There may be a revolving door of rising entertainers in the film and television industry, but no one can compare to Quei Tann.

A force to be reckoned with, her ability to seamlessly transform into a limitless range of different characters is leading her down a one-way path to stardom. Known for her roles in hit series like Dear White People and How to Get Away with Murder, Tann is now a recurring guest star on Tyler Perry’s Bruh, which is about the lives of a group of 30-something Black men as they explore the world of dating, careers, and friendship in present-day society. She is also awaiting the release of the Bella Thorne executive-produced short film Jelly, in which she stars as Edith opposite Harley Quinn Smith.

Born in Los Angeles, Tann had a difficult upbringing and an abusive father, which forced her and her mother to relocate often. When she discovered performing was an outlet at 10 years old, she started acting in various community theatre projects in Las Vegas. Knowing she was destined for something bigger, Tann moved back to L.A. determined to turn her dreams into a reality.

OFM had the opportunity to catch up with Tann and talk about her current and upcoming projects, her passion for acting, and how she hopes to use her platform to help abused children.

You are currently in Tyler Perry’s Bruh playing a guest starring role. Can you tell us more about your character?
Yes! I play Officer Darla Grills, and she is the love interest to one of the new “bruhs” on the show. It’s a romantic comedy soap opera, so you will definitely see a beautiful love story unfold. Also, we talked about the certain intersections of race and occupations. This is a show, obviously, created by a Black man, and then I come in there as a police officer. It touches on some social issues we have been having.

What have you enjoyed the most about being involved with the show?
Working with Mr. Perry. He is amazing. I have been watching his plays long before he knew who I was. My family would buy them outside of a barber shop or church, these bootleg plays that were unofficial, and I just fell in love with them because, not only does he truly give space for Black talent, but he always features Black women. He shows that Black women are beautiful and deserving of love, and I am just happy to be a part of that. It’s kind of crazy.

We will also see you in Bella Thorne’s executive produced short film, Jelly. What can you tell us about it?
It is such a cool film. I got to work with Devin Druid from 13 Reasons Why, Harley Quinn Smith, and it was the first film that I led. It was great. It was a lot of fun. There is this possession scene, like an exorcism, as I like to call it, and I just watched the film for the first time not too long ago, and it is so good. It’s the exact kind of art I want to make. Super feminine, yet super subverted in this evil, disturbing way. It is so, so good.

Have you always had a passion for acting?
Always. I am from Los Angeles, and while growing up, I just remember watching the Disney Channel shows like That’s So Raven and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and I was like, they look so happy on TV. They have no financial struggles; everyone watches them, and everyone wants to be them. I used to be extremely shy, but I think being bullied and my extremely rough childhood, I grew out of being shy. I started speaking up for myself, and art really helped me do that.

I have always had such a passion and love for acting, and I started acting in community plays in Las Vegas. I was moving back and forth between Las Vegas and L.A., and when I was 10 years old, I was trying to get into acting schools and have my mom take me to John Robert Powers, which is like this kid acting scam thing. Then I moved back up to L.A. when I was 16, and I just tried to make it happen on my own. Well, tried and succeeded [laughs]. I was 16, and it was such a rough journey. I was literally a kid here in L.A trying to make something happen, and I made it happen.

I read that you had a difficult upbringing and an abusive father, and you lived in a LGBTQ transitional youth center for a while. How did you leave all those negatives of your childhood behind to pursue your dreams?
It’s so interesting because when you are an actor, it is different than being, like, a rapper or someone who does sports. You have to have bravado, but when you are an actor, you can bring all of who you are, and I think that is so beautiful. So, I did not leave any of that behind me. I take it with me everywhere I go. Into the casting rooms and on set. Not that I am a method actor, but I bring all of me. I bring my nervousness, and there are certain traumas that live in the body that have shaped the way that I am able to empathize with other characters and relate to other people. These negatives have helped me become a better artist.

What do you hope audiences take away from your work?
I started to do it already, but if you look at the roles that I have done, they are all so different. I think, unfortunately, for many reasons, for good intentions and bad intentions, people like to box women, people of color, and queer people. Say, you do this, and you do that. I think if you look at my work, you will see that everything is so different. I play a cop; I play a drag queen; I play a law student; I play a young girl being possessed. I have other things that I have already shot that are coming out that are different as well. What I want people to take away from my work is to, obviously, consider emotion and empathize, but I also want people to see that there are no limits. You can do anything you want to do.

And what do you personally gain from each project you do?
This is my dream. I had a vision board, and I still have vision boards, but it is so crazy to read books by Napoleon Hill like Think and Grow Rich and manifest a dream. There is something that he says in that book that he gets from someone else, which is, ‘I’m the captain of my ship and the master of my fate.’ It is so wild to be able to have a dream and bring it to fruition. It really shows me that, wow, the power of the mind, dedication, tenacity, and focus. It is so inspiring. I just love to act, and the fact that I get to do it on TV, and it is something that is constant and will be there for generations and generations after I am gone, it is amazing.

As a queer actress, do you prefer to play queer roles?
I just prefer to play roles that are interesting and dynamic. If it is a queer role that is dynamic, absolutely. It’s about the role, not the label. It’s about what we are talking about. I have seen queer characters that are not driving the plot and just kind of fade into the background, and I have seen non-queer characters that also fade into the background and don’t drive the plot. I just want to be a part of the narrative. I want to be driving the narrative, and I just want it to be exciting.

Do you believe Hollywood is getting better when it comes to LGBTQ representation in film and television?
The short answer to your question is yes, but it’s not Hollywood. It’s that people are leaving, and new people are coming in. It’s a new generation of creatives, and the first people who cast me in my first feature film were Daniel Goldhaber and Isa Mazzei. Isa is a sex worker, a cam girl, and she has written a book and film about it, and Daniel is genderqueer nonbinary. They were the first people to cast me and put me in this Blumhouse film on Netflix. There is no coincidence. If you look at who the gatekeepers are, that is changing. The people who are greenlighting projects are changing, so there is a specific reason why Hollywood is getting better. It’s because the decision makers are different.

One of your other notable roles is Genifer in Dear White People, and you say playing this character allowed you to explore your arts in a new way. Can you talk more about that?
On Dear White People, I play Genifer with, if I can do a painting analogy, such vibrant, huge colors. I got to do a dialect with my voice, interesting body movements, and such specific character work that was also critical. That is what I loved about it. I really got to be free on set, and no one ever tried to pull in the reins or tell me this is too big or too much. All those people are as kooky as I am, and they are creative like me. They are willing to do something that is not of the norm, whereas if you go on a show like How to Get Away with Murder, which is fantastic, there is a formula to that. There is a specific type of tone, and you kind of stay in these parameters, but that’s what makes the show great. So, again, it just goes back to playing different roles and being able to use my talents in different ways.

What are some future goals you would like to accomplish with your platform?
Oh, goodness. I don’t know if you saw this earlier this summer, but there is a child named Tyler who was abused by his family, and they actually recorded the abuse. This kid had to be 8 or 9, and it really triggered me because it brought me back to my childhood experience. So often, there were no smartphones at the time, but so often, my father would abuse me in public. He would hit and berate me in public, and people would never say anything. They would never do anything, and that always boggles my mind. I think they were also shocked by what they were seeing. So, I hope to create an awareness about how to repot child abuse.

Look at the Gabriel Fernandez case. Gabriel had a social worker involved; the school was involved; everyone knew, and the system still failed him. The thing about child abuse is that you can’t expect a child to leave. You can’t expect a child to take action on their own because grown people who are abused can’t even leave on their own. Not only is abuse physical, but it is also mental. I hope to help children, definitely children who are similar to me in that way and are being abused because their parents think they are queer or whatever. I just want to help protect children.

Stay up-to-date with Tann by following her on Instagram and Twitter.

Photos Courtesy of Mickie Vulture