Actress Kat Graham has dealt with poor treatment on movie sets over the years, constantly being shuffled between hairstylists and makeup artists to be transformed -with little to no input from her – into their idea of what the actress should look like. She had a moment during prep to feel seen when she expressed her gratitude for her first Black professional makeup artist, Danessa Myricks, and Graham could not hold back the tears.
“Behind the scenes of our @rollingstonemx shoot! I’m so grateful and honored that I get to call my team my friends. I couldn’t do what I do without them. I got especially emotional getting to work with @Danessa_Myricks, who has represented so much inspiration, strength, power, and creativity for me for many years,” Graham wrote in her Instagram post.
Graham revealed in 2011 some of the strife she faced as an actress on “The Vampire Diaries.” In an interview with Seventeen magazine, she shared that she was targeted and bullied. “Still to this day, I’ll go on Tumblr, and I’ll look at the fan art and stuff like that, and I’ll randomly see something that I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s kind of mean, that hurt my feelings,’ but it’s all just part of being human,” Graham said.
In a vlog-style video for Vogue magazine, Graham also revealed that the producers of “The Vampire Diaries” shut down her idea of wearing natural hairstyles on the show. Instead, they styled Graham in wigs, which they felt were more fitting for the character.
