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Grace Byers is a season of joy.
The 40-year-old actress is starring on a hit show, Harlem, that has been renewed for a third season. Her 2022 movie, The Blackening, is in talks for a sequel. But Grace’s most joyful moments have come from her new role as a mom. The Empire alum welcomed her first child, a son, with husband and former co-star Trai Byers in 2023. In the months since, she has learned to release control, prioritize self-care, and find happiness along the way.
“I did not know that becoming a mom was going to turn me into myself and really expose parts of myself that I wanted to work on,” Grace tells Black Love at the EBONY Power 100 Gala in Los Angeles. “It’s not until I was in that environment that I realized some of the things that were important to me — what self-care really means, what putting myself first really means. How important it is that when I’m okay, everybody else is okay too.”
“Releasing the idea of control,” she adds. “Knowing that I don’t have control over everything as much as I want to. As much as I want to keep him safe and protect him, there’s only so much I can do. And so negotiating those things, I think, has been really different and new for me. I’m still in the process and it’s good.”
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That process includes a new hairstyle — Grace cut her long curls into a pixie cut to save time as a mom — and establishing new holiday traditions for her son, who is 20 months old. The actress says that she and Trai traveled to Kansas City, Trai’s hometown, for Thanksgiving and plan to spend Christmas quietly at home as a new family of three.
“My mother-in-law has all of this wonderful stuff that she does with the grandkids [at Thanksgiving],” Grace shares. “And then for Christmas, it’s going to be quiet. It’s going to be here [in Los Angeles]. We’re going to try some new traditions, right? Because baby boy is about 19, 20 months old now, so he knows what’s going on. We want to try some new stuff with him. We’re really excited.”
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The winter season will also bring season three of Grace’s Prime Video series, Harlem, which she stars in alongside Meagan Good, Jerrie Johnson, Shoniqua Shandai, and Tyler Lepley. The series, created and executive produced by screenwriter Tracy Oliver, follows four best friends as they navigate life, love, and career in New York City’s Black Mecca. Grace tells Black Love that season three will introduce several new faces we’ve come to know and love, including Kofi Siriboe, Logan Browning, Robin Givens, and Gail Bean.
“We have some really great people that are coming in this season that I think just really adds to the family of Harlem,” Grace gushes. “Every single one of the characters will go through something life-changing. I think that it’s really worth it for all of us to see — especially if you’re in your 30s, 40s — because they’re going through things that all of us are either considering, have gone through, [or] want to go through.”
“I think that the stories that we tell on Harlem are really important,” Grace adds. “Every opportunity that we get in order to do it again and again, I think is wonderful because we get to go deeper. We get to add more facets and I think that that’s truly wonderful.”
Harlem premieres on Jan. 23 on Prime Video.
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