Teyana Taylor captures first Golden Globe. Local residents call it "a win for all of Harlem"
Harlem native and triple-threat performer Teyana Taylor took home her first major acting honor by winning Best Supporting Actress at the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday night.
Taylor was honored for her performance in Paul Thomas Anderson's dark comedy action thriller "One Battle After Another."
The singer-actress-dancer beat out stiff competition, including Ariana Grande in "Wicked" and Emily Blunt in "The Smashing Machine." Taylor plays "Perfidia," a rebel, mother, and love interest to Leonardo DiCaprio. The film follows the duo as they take part in an anti-government revolutionary group. At one point, Perfidia is forced to make a heartbreaking choice and abandon her family.
During her acceptance speech, Taylor spoke through tears and gave a shout out to her co-stars, her children, and to "brown sisters and little brown girls" watching.
Harlemites say it was a win for the whole neighborhood.
Harlem arts community reacts with pride to Taylor's win
Taylor's words struck a chord with leaders at Harlem School of the Arts (HSA), where children can enroll in dance, theater, and music classes. Notable alumni of the school include rockstar Lenny Kravitz; Caleb McLaughlin of Netflix's "Stranger Things," Katori Hall, the playwright behind the hit series "P-Valley" on Starz; and multi-Emmy Award nominee Giancarlo Esposito.
"For our young people to see somebody from Harlem who looks like them, I talk a lot about it with our team, with our young people, the more things you see, the more things you can imagine and be," said James C. Horton, HS's president and CEO. "And so for her to be at the highest stage, she's going to get an Oscar nod. The Golden Globes are a great precursor to what is to come there."
Others in the Harlem arts community said they recall watching Taylor's journey throughout the years leading up to Sunday's historic moment.
"Seeing Teyana shout out Harlem in these spaces is so important," said local filmmaker Shawn Antoine II. "There's so many talented people, obviously her being the most prominent right now, but people that have come before her and those that have come right behind her, following in her footsteps."
"She has been believing in herself since she was young"
Antoine has been making movies for around a decade. His new film "The Sight Unseen" will be screening this year and chronicles mysterious cross sightings across New York City in the 1970s. He says Taylor's win can open doors for other Harlem artists.
"I think just about everybody from Harlem is proud to be from here," Antoine said. "Being from Harlem, you kind of have to have this thick skin and this kind of sense of confidence ... She has been believing in herself since she was young. And that's something that so many people of Harlem have had to do to get the respect that we really want."
Although some fans online have criticized Taylor's brief screen time in the film, public historian Richard Jones, who documents Harlem's history online, said it's only a further testament to her performance.
"A lot of times we look at who's taking up the most time on screen, but really it's what does your character add or bring to the story? And I think that Teyana Taylor's win is a recognition of that," Jones said.
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