First Impressions: Laya Deleon Hayes

Simone Rocha top , David Yurman earrings

On a brisk February morning I met with Equalizer star Laya Hayes. As we both held onto our morning cups, mine nearly poured over the brim with coffee and Laya’s perfectly measured with OJ. We spent some time catching up before diving into our wistful conversation about all things Laya Hayes. 

words by Celina Azena

CELINE AZENA : Well, I'm excited that I am getting this chance to speak with you today.  I want this interview to be as calm, collected, and as chill as possible. It really is just, like, a way for me to get to know you better and for readers to get to know you better as a person. Let's hop right into it. My first question– an intro. If you met someone for the first time, how would you introduce yourself?

LAYA DELEON HAYES: Okay, we’re going for a full background type of introduction.

CELINE AZENA: It's up to you. If you meet a random stranger for the first time, and they say–tell me about you. What would you say?

Thom Browne corset and shirt, David Yurman earrings, Simone Rocha skirt 

LAYA DELEON HAYES: Hi! I’d probably start with that. I'll introduce myself. I am 19 years old. I am an actress. I was born in the south, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Raised in Texas, and that's where I got the acting bug, and then moved to LA when I was nine. Lived there for about seven years before I moved to New York for a show called The Equalizer that I starred in alongside Queen Latifah. Then I would tell them that I probably wouldn't say this to someone I just met– randomly, but that I am a creative person. I like to have fun. I like talking to people and meeting people, and I feel very fortunate to be a creative person. To be doing what I love in a city that I really love.

CELINE AZENA: See, you did that perfectly. There you go. Intro. So stepping back, you're 19 years old, and you've done so much at such a young age. You live a pretty extraordinary life. 

LAYA DELEON HAYES: Well, it really does feel incredible because I've known what I wanted to do since I was eight years old. I got on stage when I was in third grade, and I did my first dance recital. I thought– this is it. I want to entertain. I want to dance. I want to perform in front of people. 

After that, it was as if a light switch turned on. I did the morning announcements at school in third grade, and thought–this is what it feels like to find something that you love to do. 

CELINE AZENA: I love that. And it's only just the beginning, you’re at a starting point.

LAYA DELEON HAYES: Exactly. The goal is to always keep growing and evolving every single year. So I feel very lucky to have a support system and people who believe in me, and that's how I've gotten to this point. But again, you look at those things as just reasons to keep moving forward. That's what it feels like for me 100%.

CELINE AZENA: Where do you find balance within your career? Having a personal life and also a professional one.

LAYA DELEON HAYES: I think that's something I'm still trying to figure out. How to navigate what that looks like, especially moving into young adulthood, because for so long, everything that I did was focused on around my career. It's been interesting to realize that there's other things that I also do enjoy outside of this and how those things also affect the way that you work in really wonderful ways. 

Missoni 

I think the best part of being a part of this industry is that it really is a microcosm of life. The people that you meet, even being an actor, it’s like studying human psychology. 

It's acceptable to have a life alongside what you do. One way I try to keep balance is having a routine, and I try to journal as much as I can. Having things that are solidified for me, because the industry can be very spontaneous at times, and I don't know what the day can bring. 

As long as I have something in the morning, something as simple as drinking my orange juice in the morning or at night, having a gratitude journal, those little things that are solid in my life. I find it very helpful. It's a constant conversation with myself, a constant checking in. How are you feeling? Are you overwhelmed? What's making you feel overwhelmed? I'm constantly thinking about all of those things.

Allina Liu dress

Allina Liu dress

CELINE AZENA: I also think it's just really important to make sure that you're taking care of yourself and just making sure that, hey, if I don't feel like getting out of bed today and I just want to read, I just want to relax. I'll take that. Not a lot of people really tend to do that. They  have so many things to do, and feel the need to get them done. It’s easy to forget.  Tell me two things that are a must in your routine?

LAYA DELEON HAYES: In the mornings, I try to meditate for a short amount of time because my attention span is kind of short.  I'll do a nice five to ten minute meditation, with some breathing exercises. Towards the end of the day, like I mentioned, I like to journal. Being conscious of how I'm moving and how I'm thinking about myself.

CELINE AZENA: Are there any major moments in this past year that have been ingrained in your brain?

LAYA DELEON HAYES: There's so many. This past year was really special. I won a BAFTA, which was obviously very wonderful. No words that I can say can ever really equate to what that feeling was like. It was extremely special because it was my first time in Europe, as well as my parents’ first time too. We were there for a good time and to embrace the moment. My mother asked me if I had prepared something in the event that I won–but I hadn’t–I was just excited to be there. The night of the ceremony they called my name and I was a puddle of tears. It didn’t really register until about two and a half weeks later. 

CELINE AZENA: Feels like a great thing to get to experience. Who is your favorite musician at the moment? 

Missoni 

LAYA DELEON HAYES: I listen to a lot of music, and I really mean it when I say that.I'm just going to say the obvious because she is my queen and she will be my queen forever. Is Beyonce okay? Beyonce will always be my girl. There's really no debate. I  will always have respect for that woman. I've been to almost all of her concerts since I've been alive. She'll always be that girl to me. I’ve also been listening to Joni Mitchell, who has also become one of my favorite artists. And Nina Simone!

CELINE AZENA: Do you feel like there is a type of character that has yet to be depicted on screen?

LAYA DELEON HAYES: For sure! I think there's a lot of stories and characters that I would like to see depicted specifically for young black women. I'd just love to see more coming of age for young black women.Young womanhood or girlhood and just having representation in that regard. 

I was thinking about it, and there's not many that I can think of that I've seen that are solely focused on that time of life in a young black girl, or any person of color.The process of growing up. 

CELINE AZENA: Is there any story of someone who's come up to you and spoken to you that really stuck with you?

LAYA DELEON HAYES: That's such a sweet question–and yes, there is. There have been a few that have really touched me in a lot of ways. I think the main thing that I get from people who love the show is they love how much the daughter, mother and aunt relationship is. They haven't seen that represented on screen before, and they're able to relate to their daughters. I met a woman who had lost her daughter a couple months before and was comforted by watching the show. It reminded her of her daughter, and that was really special to me.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Photography by Kwami Lee, Styling by Raz Martinez, Written by Celine Azena, Makeup by Britty Whitfield, Hair by Antoinette Wade, Styling Assistant Joyce Onuorah, Market by Celine Azena