Perseverance is paying off for Teyana Taylor. The recording artist celebrated her leading role in the forthcoming film, A Thousand and One, with her husband, Iman Shumpert, and their kids.
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Iman took to Instagram on Wednesday (Mar. 29) to celebrate his wife’s accomplishment. “A thousand and one times I watched you practice in your mirrors … watched you chase after dreams so much you forgot the money,” Iman wrote to Teyana. “I didn’t find that beautiful until I saw how you wore it,” the NBA player added.
“Having this kind of moment stamps sh*t like this in concrete,” Shumpert said of Teyana’s big night at the film’s premiere. “You CAN go after all of your dreams,” Iman shared. “IT IS going to be hard along the way and what’s meant to happen will always align in GRACE,” the proud husband exclaimed.
“Queen, this moment is all the more beautiful with the two we made to witness it all as your bodyguards on this carpet,” Iman said of his and Teyana’s daughters, Iman Tayla and Rue Rose. “There’s not enough roses I could get you to tell you how proud of you I am,” Shumpert continued. “Let’s just hope the Oscars ain’t grouches this time next year,” he mused.
A Thousand and One is the story of Inez (Teyana Taylor) who kidnaps her son, Terry, and raises him after losing the little one to child protective services. The story features an ever-changing New York City and a mother who refuses to allow her son to go back into a system that does not have his best interest at heart.
“It was about two to four months into my [music] retirement,” Teyana said of her involvement in the film. “When I retired, I really wanted to focus on directing and acting, so this is the first project that I did since stepping into that world,” Taylor shared.
“I was only six months postpartum,” Teyana said of the timeline. “So I knew that I had something to prove,” she added. “There was no time for games. I knew that this was something that I wanted to fight for. I knew it was something that I wanted to earn,” the artist explained.
“Doing this role meant a lot to me, especially with my retirement and people making me feel like music was my end-all, be-all,” Teyana shared with ELLE magazine. “But one thing I always stood strong on was my faith. When one door closed, another one opened. What is for me was already written.”
A Thousand and One – starring Aaron Kingsley Adetola, Aven Courtney, Josiah Cross, and more – makes its public debut on Friday, March 31, 2023.
Photo: Iman Shumpert/Instagram
