Uzo Aduba From 'Orange Is the New Black' on Self Acceptance and Being 'Just Uzo'

— -- "Orange is the New Black" star Uzo Aduba will not give into the pressures of Hollywood.

In the cover story for the upcoming September issue of Essence, the actress opened up about the pressures of the business and her refusal to give in to them.

“This business will try to convince you that you’re not enough," Aduba, told Essence. "That you’re not pretty enough, thin enough, talented enough, interesting enough, experienced enough and I say, ‘Enough. Enough with that!'"

Since receiving the call four years ago that she would be playing Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren in the hit Netflix series, the 35-year-old actress has earned two Emmy awards, starred in two films, and been in a West End play. But, she admitted to the magazine, self acceptance didn't necessarily come easily. In fact, Aduba said she asked her Nigerian mother at one point if she could change her name to Zoe.

Despite the bouts of uncertainty, Aduba said her love for acting helped her find and make peace with her true self. She hasn't turned back since.

"I cannot subscribe to anyone else’s idea of how I am meant to look, what size I am meant to be, whether I have a gap in my teeth, how I’m supposed to behave, what your idea of what my Black womanhood is supposed to look like," Aduba explained to Essence.

"No. This is me," she said. "I am just Uzo. I can’t be anything other than that and I don’t want to be.”