Teyana Taylor Scores Big In ‘A Thousand And One’

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Teyana Taylor and A.V. Rockwell found a unique chemistry with “A Thousand And One.” That may be because the film is a pivotal first for both of them. For Taylor, it’s her first starring role in a feature film. And it is Rockwell’s first directorial feature film.

Set in the ’90s and moving to the early aughts, Taylor plays Inez, a Harlem woman fresh out of prison who kidnaps her 6-year-old son, Terry, out of the foster care system. Yet, just as much as the mother-son duo is faced with growing pains, inequality and a rapidly gentrifying New York, they embody a familial bond that’s real, raw and full of love. The moments of beauty hit just as hard as the painful ones, and it appears critics agree, as the film won the Dramatic Grand Prize Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

As much as “A Thousand And One,” which hits theaters March 31, is a family drama, it’s also a love letter to the energy of an ever-changing New York.

For Taylor, originally from Harlem, Inez was a departure from the more comedic or sexy roles she’s played in films like “The Trap” or “Madea’s Big Happy Family.” Instead, it’s just “Teyana stripped down,” the actor told HuffPost. Taylor, who was dealing with postpartum depression and a few deaths when they were filming — on top of dealing with the pandemic — said playing Inez was one of the only times she didn’t have to be strong.

“I just would pour everything into her,” Taylor said. “Inez was the only time that I was able to actually be weak for once and then put away my cape, hang it up for a few hours a day, and just cry out loud and kick, scream, holler, just pour all of that raw emotion into Inez. And I think that that’s why it was never really a dull moment with Inez because every single emotion was so real.”

For Rockwell, a Queens native, her first feature-length film is personal on several levels.

“I really did want to tell a coming-of-age story,” the director told HuffPost. “And I wanted to tell a story that was about the time and the place and the people that got me here to where I’m at now, that part of that huge chunk of life that made me who I am today. Obviously, as I go on, I’m going to make so many…