DeWanda Wise used to be a proud quitter, and she’s not afraid to own it. That may sound like an unusual trait for an actress to claim, considering dedication is key to pulling off convincing performances and staying booked and busy in the business. However, Wise, a self-proclaimed “commitment-phobe” who’s also been married for 15 years, enjoys the ease of having a no-strings-attached kind of career. 

“Part of the reason I became an actor is because I was such a quitter,” Wise tells BET.com with a laugh, joking that it makes her “sweat thinking about playing the same role for ten years.” “I just quit. I could quit any and everything [growing up]. But when I discovered acting, I realized that I wouldn't have to quit because the job ends.”

Wise found acting alluring as a young teen growing up in Maryland. However, it took some years and a few trial aspirations for the epiphany to hit. First, between ages 3 and 11, she was set on becoming a serious singer, even joining her local county choir. Then, between 11 and 15, Wise considered being a psychologist, recognizing a “huge need” for mental health advocates in her home state. Finally, though, when she was still 15, Wise took a drama class, which changed her life forever. “I found that it kind of was the amalgamation of my love of performance and that outlet that I found through singing, my love of psychology, and figuring out and learning how humans work,” the 39-year-old recalls. “I was like, ‘This is it. This is my life's purpose.’”

Wise had several breakthrough roles throughout her decades-long career, most notably in Netflix’s reboot series of Spike Lee’s “She’s Gotta Have It” as the free-spirited painter Nola Darling. Her other standout roles include the rom-com “Someone Great,” starring Gina Rodriguez and LaKeith Stanfield, the Kevin Hart-led drama “Fatherhood,” the Jordan Peele-produced revival of “The Twilight Zone,” and the billion-dollar box-office hit “Jurassic World Dominion.” Her latest project, the supernatural flick “Imaginary,” stands to be another milestone in her acting journey.

In the Blumhouse horror film, Wise’s character, an artist named Jessica, moves back into her childhood home with her husband (Tom Payne) and stepchildren (Taegen Burns and Pyper Braun) for a fresh start, but old demons soon complicate their new beginning. While facing past trauma, Jessica finds out the imaginary friend she abandoned as a kid — who’s now befriended her youngest stepdaughter, Alice — still holds a vengeful grudge and is determined to force a reunion by any means necessary. 

As a “big fan of horror [movies] growing up,” “Imaginary” seemed like a natural fit for Wise. “My love of horror goes really deep,” she says. “I love [Stanley] Kubrick. I love the original ‘Jaws.’ I love [Alfred] Hitchcock. And then you go into the ‘90s, you have your Freddy Krueger's, your Jason's. I love it.” The actress practically jumped at the chance to lead her own scary movie after perusing the “Imaginary” script,” which she found deeply moving. “It broke my heart,” Wise shares. “You get to the part where you just think about the facts on the ground. There's this woman who grew up without her mother and never had an opportunity to have a real relationship with her father. And for 25, 30 years of her life, there was one idea of what happened [to her family and imaginary friend] in her head, and then it's revealed to her that it was something else entirely.”

Exploring a grounded story about family, childhood terrors, and an unexpected imaginary world was especially intriguing for Wise once she got emotionally invested. She even took some creative liberties to add more depth to her character. Wise says, “At the core of Jessica, what she craves is family. She's craving the family that she feels she'd never had. In my little, nerdy actor backstory, she was taken care of by an aunt, and I just found myself really, really moved. That notion that not everyone's childhood is easy, breezy, beautiful, that some kids have a really hard way to go, and between Jessica and Alice's character, it was really moving to me.”

“Imaginary”’s heartbreaking plot and jump-scare antics aren’t the only things that attracted Wise. After starring in various films and TV series over the years, where she often plays strong-willed characters or portrays the “strong Black woman” trope, Wise rejoiced about taking on a vulnerable role that seemed as soft as she is in real life. It felt like her chance to shed the armor that comes with being a Black woman navigating Hollywood.

“People, and I understand, I get it, I'm a Black woman, but we always carry that thing of being strong and being the ones to go to. This, for me, was an opportunity to play a character who was, really, radically soft,” Wise explains. “When I met with [director] Jeff [Wadlow], he was very sweet about it … He was like, ‘My only concern is that you often come across as very capable in your roles.’ I told him, ‘Well, Jeff, I will say it is because I am very capable, but I am also very tired, and I would love to be saved, okay? I would love to be the damsel.”

“Imaginary” wasn’t just another project for Wise to flex her profound acting skills. It also allowed her to be a bit more hands-on as one of its executive producers, a full-circle opportunity that she says manifested from her first producing credit on the 2016 indie rom-com “How to Tell You're a Douchebag” (which also led to her leading “She’s Gotta Have It”). 

“It feels real good. I love producing. I love having a say and a bit more creative input,” Wise shares. “I do it anyway. It wasn't really a secret that, on ‘Jurassic,’ I gave my own dialogue pass. I'm all up in it. I'm very involved in my projects. I work best with the kind of directors and collaborators who welcome that input, and who don't prefer to work with actors who are like, ‘You, doll, you act.’ You know what I mean? So, in this case, from a little more script development to designing Jessica's children's books to coordinating with Meghan Rogers — who is our set designer — to make sure that we're telling the story, not just of my character, but of all these characters. All that stuff, it was real. I just love it. I love filmmaking. I consider myself a filmmaker more than I consider myself an actor.”

Wise is grateful she’s made it so far in her career, now able to juggle different hats as she continues to cement herself as an acclaimed actress. She recognizes that not everyone in the industry has gone the distance like her, but she’s hopeful that more opportunities like “Imaginary” will keep her on the path she dreamed of as a youth.

“Imaginary” is now playing in theaters.