Teyana Taylor says her 'A Thousand and One' film shows 'being a mom is the hardest job'

Teyana Taylor says her role as a dedicated mother trying to provide the best for her son in "A Thousand And One" wasn't that far off from her life as a mom of two.

In the film, Taylor plays Inez de la Paz, a former convict, who struggles to reconnect with her young son, Terry, after she kidnaps him from the foster care system. As Inez works to find a job and safe housing for her and Terry, the young mother also faces challenges like job insecurity, gentrification and negative policing policies, which directly affect Black residents in New York City during the early aughts.

While speaking to TODAY.com, Taylor says she knew she wanted to play this character because she felt an "instant connection" to Inez and her struggles.

"Being a mom is the hardest job," Taylor, who is a mom of two kids, Iman “Junie” Tayla Shumpert Jr., and Rue Rose Shumpert, says. "But also, I feel like I see Inez in a lot of Black women."

The "Coming 2 America" star says like her character, there are many Black women who still struggle to feel valued and appreciated.

"I don't feel like we as Black women are heard enough, we're not seen enough, we're not respected enough and we're not protected enough," she adds.

To that point, Taylor notes an emotional scene in the film where her character asks her partner Lucky (William Catlett) to show up for her when she realizes that he doesn't offer the support she needs, but expects her to not judge his mistakes.

The dynamic in their relationship, Taylor says, is all too familiar for many Black women who are often in fight or flight mode.

"As Black women, we're just in a natural survival mode and the majority of the time, it's not by choice," she says.

Like Inez, Catlett says that his character is also struggling to find his footing following his time in prison. Lucky, who moves in with Inez, also helps to co-parent her son, who he later calls his own.

Catlett says Lucky and Inez are cut from the same cloth, adding that it's not fair for him to be judged because he's still trying his find himself and where he fits in.

“When things get too heavy, you notice that Lucky always leaves. He always exits, and so I think this film is a great mirror for a lot of men and women that say, you can’t just walk out,” he says.

While the film offers a specific perspective, Catlett says the movie does more than just tell a story about a struggling Black family living in New York.

"It's a human story," he explains.

"Whether you're white, Black, Asian, Latino, or whatever, you can sit there and say there's a family somewhere in the world that are going through the same things and even though the backdrop is in Harlem, New York, it can be anywhere in the world," he says, before adding that director "A.V. Rockwell did a great job of writing a universal story."

For Rockwell, the story also hit close to home. As someone who knew others who grew up in the foster care system, Rockwell tells TODAY.com that she knew exactly what it was like to see people "yearn for a sense of home."

That, she says, helped her to cultivate Inez's character and tell a honest "coming of age story" that Taylor portrayed so graciously on-screen.

"A Thousand And One" was awarded the prestigious grand jury prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, an award that Catlett says doesn't come too often for Black people.

Aside from the recognition, Rockwell says there's a lot to be "really grateful" for with her new film.

"To see 'A Thousand And One,' connect with people in all these specific ways is really invigorating for me because I just didn't fully know if people would understand all those nuances and everyone has and then some," she said.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com