“It would still have been a yes even if Paul had offered me the part of a background person,” Teyana told W Magazine in an interview published Feb. 23. “I hadn’t read the script, but Paul kept saying, ‘Perfidia is you.'”
As for Paul—who won the Oscars for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture—he had seen her in the 2023 film A Thousand and One and knew he had to work with her.
“Teyana is so electric and alive on-screen,” he told the outlet. “I guess it’s what we call ‘screen presence.’ That performance in A Thousand and One made me want to meet her.”
“Teyana’s physicality is very precise and fun to watch—also, fun to be around,” Paul added. “Perfidia is a ‘runner,’ someone who’s restless if she’s stuck in one place for too long. Teyana is also very restless—always searching for new information, new challenges.”
Of course, Teyana and her fellow nominees shared many special moments during the 2026 Oscars. Keep reading to see everything you may have missed on TV.
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