Audiences will recognize Courtney Taylor as Sequoia from Insecure and as Erika in Abbott Elementary, and now she’s stepping into a breakout role as Zamira Parker, the number-two lead opposite Maggie Q in Ballard. The wildly popular Bosch spin-off is currently number-one on Amazon Prime Video, and Taylor’s sharp comedic instincts and screen presence are earning her attention as one to watch. In addition to running us through her nightly routine to “get away from the heavy topics,” Taylor recently sat down with us to talk hair care, her favorite skin-care stop in Los Angeles and where her head is as she waits for the word on Season 2.
How do you feel right now, as I’m sure a lot of people are telling you that they’re watching Ballard—it is definitely one to binge.
“I am literally on cloud nine. I think everyone and anyone who’s in this industry, the goal is to make really good work. I think we always are super passionate about it, but doing the work, letting it come out, and people actually enjoying it and having the reviews and praising each individual cast member, it’s a dream. I’m so happy that people love it because we love making it. It’s just nice to hear that validation. It’s always good to hear: ‘Yes, this is good work.’”
It’s so true. The show obviously revolves around some heavy topics, and your scenes seem especially taxing. How was it to film?
“We were dealing with heavy topics…and I think casting did such a good job of picking the people they picked. It’s hard to explain, but whenever we did have downtime, it was easy for us to get to know each other and find beautiful moments behind the scenes. We were all there for each other—especially the days when we were dealing with some pretty tough topics. I was so lucky to work with Maggie and John and Rebecca, and my cast, all of them, Victoria, Michael—they were all so funny and kind. They wanted to eat lunch with me! They wanted to know more about me! We just took care of each other on set, which is just so wonderful.”
It shows in the final product. When you do something like this, does it take you some time to get out of character and get back to real life at the end of the night?
“It did…it took me a little longer to get out of those moments, especially when the episodes were focusing on my arc, specifically. I’ve never done that before. Understanding who Parker was, understanding the trauma she went through and allowing myself to go there and serve the character as much as I possibly could…all of that took me a second to let go. I cared about her so much and just felt for her circumstances.
It was hard to break through…but I was lucky to have people on set who took care of me. The cast and the crew gave me my time in the trailer when I needed it. They gave me my space when I needed it. I was so lucky to be able to do something like this—it was such a caring cast and crew and I credit a lot of that to the success.”
Good. That’s all you need at work, right?
“Yes, 100 percent. I think it makes the work better. Having people take care of you makes the work even better.”
I’ve been following your Instagram. It seems like you really enjoy the events, the premieres, the sitting in glam. Do you enjoy the press and the prep?
“If I could do it every day, I would. Just having somebody come to the house and do my hair and makeup, I never realized how much of a luxury that is! The fact that we’ve been doing it so much, I’m always like, ‘Oh, can I just keep you guys? Can you guys just wake up with me every day? It’s so nice. It’s so fun.
But I have to say: Having such good glam people who understand my hair, who understand my skin tone is so key. They take care of me so much. I’ve worked with them before. Whenever I do have project, it’s nice to see them again. Having them in this capacity, where we’re basically working maybe every other weekend or something like that, it just feels so nice. I am lucky!”
Since you do have to do all the press, and obviously, part of your job is being on set and doing makeup, do you have any brands you really love—the products that you think really work?
“When I was on the Ballard set, we used a brand heavily with my hair, my locs. It’s a woman named Lisa, who created her own products. The products are called My Curl Products. They are so good! She was the one that was doing a lot of my loc style on set. Her whole goal on set was to make sure my locs were taken care of—and it worked. They felt healthy, and they were moisturized.
All of her products are so good. And they are also light! She used mousses to retwist my hair, and her conditioners are great. Every single product she put in my hair made my locs feel stronger. It helped my hair grow! It just allowed me to really feel comfortable on set because I get nervous with my locs…a lot of people don’t really know how to manage locs. When they see them, they’re like, ‘No! Can we do a protective style?’ I was so happy to have Lisa there with me on set because she just completely took care of my hair. So, that’s what I usually do to my hair products now, the leave-in conditioners and the mousses that she put me on to.
Skin-care stuff…it’s so interesting. I go to this shop that I have not strayed from. When I go to downtown LA, there’s this place in Fancy Alley, it’s called Indira Imports. They have an online site, too. I get my cleansers from there. I get my shea butters from there. I get my nourishing oils from there. It is my ultimate go-to.
Oh, I’m going to look that up.
“Oh, my goodness. Yes! Every single time I go, I’ll learn something! And then I’ll try something that is literally the best thing ever. I give Indira Imports their flowers because I’ve been using them for years, and I never have an issue with whatever I buy there. My skin always feels good. The day they go out of business is the day that you’ll see the saddest version of me!”
We don’t want to see that! On that same note: The show is still streaming and incredibly popular…people are watching it. What do you know about a potential second season and what else do you have in the pipeline?
“As of right now, I’m working super heavily on projects that I want to work on, like I’ve been writing. I’ve been making sure I stay busy when it comes to my creative processes. I have this animated show that I’m waiting for to come out. We’re not sure when it will come out, but we’re super excited for that to finish up. And, then, I’m just waiting to hear really good news about Ballard. We’re finger-crossing it. We’re just waiting to hear back. Hopefully, by August, we will all have the answer.”