Breakout comedy star Tiffany Haddish shared her life story to a packed house at the Saban Theater on Friday night (July 6) and received the Trailblazer Award for her achievements in comedy from The Hollywood Confidential.
Haddish has made a rapid ascent from struggling stand-up to A-list Hollywood actress over the past year and she shared with the audience how she picks projects when she is constantly being offered new roles.
“Honestly, when I read scripts I always think about 16-year-old Tiffany,” she told the crowd. “Would 16-year-old Tiffany want to see this? Would 16-year-old Tiffany want to tell her friends ‘oh, oh, oh, guess what I’m about to go see at the movies. Let’s see if we can get a fake ID and sneak in’…If it made me feel like the young me would be excited to see it, then that’s what I’m going to do.”
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The Girl’s Trip star was also candid about the hardships she faced early in her life, from being placed in foster care at 12 years old to struggling with poverty and homelessness as an adult and the mindset she needed to overcome it.
“It’s just being willing to be vulnerable and to have courage and believe that God has your back,” she said. “If you believe and love and approve of yourself then the world will believe and love and approve of you.”
The highlight of her talk was when she leapt out of her seat, ran around the stage and in her words “cursed the audience with happiness.” Audience members jumped out of their seats and called out to the comedienne and she yelled at them as she cursed them with love, happiness and joy in their life.
Ralph Farquhar, who was a producer on popular television shows like South Central, The Parkers and Moesha, was also a part of the evening’s panel and was honored with the Hollywood Confidential Legend Award.
The Hollywood Confidential is a panel event series produced by Steve Jones, meant to provide a forum for successful Hollywood luminaries to speak to their own experiences and provide guidance for those seeking to break into the entertainment industry.
This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.