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True Whitaker is sharing some advice she's gotten from her famous dad
The I Love LA star tells PEOPLE that her father, Forest Whitaker, has taught her to be "true to yourself"
"Working hard for authenticity will get you where you want to go," she says of his advice
True Whitaker's father is in her corner.
TheI Love L.A.star, 27, caught up with PEOPLE at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival on Friday, Oct. 31, where she detailed some advice she's gotten from her dad,Forest Whitaker.
On the new HBO comedy, True plays Alani, a friend ofRachel Sennott's character, Maia, and daughter of a famous producer named Alani. The role somewhat mirrors her real life of having a famous dad, and as she tells PEOPLE, there's some advice that Forest has instilled in her that's gone a long way.
"[My dad has taught me] when to say no, and also to work hard and just be true to yourself," True says. She adds, "Working hard for authenticity will get you where you want to go."
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In addition to True, Forest is dad to kids Ocean, Autumn and Sonnet. He shares True with late ex-wife Keisha Nash. Last September, Forest attended the 2024 Faces of Hope Galaalong with both True and Sonnet.
Speaking withShadow and Act, True said she loves that her character is "not embarrassed or doesn't feel some type of way about her nepotism."
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"And to me, I feel the exact same way. I'm proud of my Black ass dad, who made something of himself and is a legend," she said. "And to have that so close to me, [and] to be able to pull from that and be so heavily inspired…I'll never be embarrassed or feel weird about being associated with the greatness that he has created. And I'm hoping that I can be able to do that too."
Odessa A'Zion, Jordan Firstman,Josh Hutcherson, andLeighton Meesteralso round out the cast ofI Love LA, with the latter playing Alyssa, boss to Maia and owner of a successful PR firm.
Meester, 39, told PEOPLE that the story is "all heightened in a way that is just super fun" — adding that she's lucky to not have negative publicity experiences to pull from for the character. "I guess I could draw some inspiration from my movie version of what that world is, but I've been very lucky to have... I don't know, my publicist, I think of her as my friend," Meester said. "I don't know if she thinks the same, but I really like her a lot."
"I've totally seen it from afar and witnessed some weird shenanigans," she added. "And I'm sure that there's so many weird scenarios. I don't know. They're fun to hear about, but not to live through."
New episodes ofI Love LApremiere Sundays at 11 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.
Read the original article onPeople
