Uzo Aduba's Best Advice (and More Favorites from the OITNB Actress)

Best Advice
When I moved from Boston to New York City after college, my mom, who's from Nigeria, drove me to the train station. She turned off the car and said, "Uzo, just work hard. I've never heard of nothing coming from hard work." It's a message that resonates in my bones.

Best Boston Ritual
The Boston Marathon, which is held on what we call Marathon Monday. It's also a state holiday, and there's grilling and celebrating. It's really cool to see an entire city come together for one event, especially after everything that's happened. I ran in April to raise money for breast cancer research in honor of a family friend and a cousin. I was so stoked!

Best Beauty Staple
Perfume. I think a fragrance is the perfect way to say hello when you walk into a room—announcing who you are without being too loud.

Best OITNB Tradition
Singing. We're always making up songs or reciting our lines to gospel and R&B melodies. Sometimes the crew has to say, "Ladies! It's time to get back to work!" But we're too busy harmonizing "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" in our prison jumpsuits.

Best Role Model
It probably seems clichéd to say this in O, but—Oprah! She's my hero. When I was a kid, there weren't many people who looked like me on television, and there she was, a real person showing us all how to live with grace, humility and strength.

Best Guilty Pleasure
The Real Housewives franchise. I live for that series, and I have no shame.