Essence July/August Covers Feature Jazmine Sullivan and Yahya Abdul-Mateen

Source: Brad Ogbonna / Brad Ogbonna

For Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s ESSENCE feature, Summer Screen Kings, 35-year-old Yahya talks about what really drew him to acting, his definition of sexy and whether a rom-com is next on his list of achievements. Check out the excerpts below!

ON WHAT IT REALLY MEANS TO BE SEXY:

“I don’t think sexy tries. Ease is sexy. It’s nice to have a little bit of mystery, and if I’m being perfectly honest, it’s not for me to say whether I’m attractive or not. It’s for me to have self-confidence. Confidence is sexy…”

ON HOW HIS CURIOSITY DREW HIM TO ACTING:

“I wasn’t itching to be a star or anything like that. I wasn’t thinking about movies or television. I just started following my curiosity…I got here by staying curious, by staying humble, and also knowing that there’s so much more that I want to do…I think I’ve done a lot on other people’s terms. I’ve been able to step into projects that were already written before my name was attached, and I’m so thankful that I was able to step in and support those projects. But now I’m at a place where I’m looking to come into rooms with my own ideas, and develop those ideas and tell my own stories. I think that’s the next chapter…”

Sounds like writing and producing are in his future. We can’t wait!

ON WHETHER A ROM-COM IS IN HIS FUTURE:

“We need more romance…We have adventure. We have action. We’ve got a lot of stories about trauma, because trauma is very present in our world right now. But we also need love. We need more straight-up, old-school romance. I don’t mind putting my hand up and stepping into that place to say, ‘I’ll be your man, girl.’ I don’t mind that at all…”

We love it. We’re definitely over all the trauma in tv and film. More love please!

ACTRESS/DIRECTOR REGINA KING ON YAHYA’S DEDICATION TO THE WOMEN IN HIS LIFE:

“That man talks about his sisters and his mother with so much love and so much appreciation…I think that was one of the reasons why we connected so well. It doesn’t always work that way with actors, that you feel safe enough to be so forthcoming with your personal life, but we did that literally day one. His love for the women in his life, he leads with that…”

We love it that this man shows the Black Queens all the glory we deserve!

Definitely looks like a fire issue. Which cover are you picking up — Jazmine’s or Yahya’s?