Samira Wiley got a “We regret to inform you...” letter from every acting school she applied to. Then one audition helped her shake off the self-doubt.

I first started thinking I wanted to act in third grade, after I saw a girl recite Nikki Giovanni’s “Ego-Tripping” at my school’s oratorical contest. She transformed that text into a story. I thought, I’m going to do that next year! I started going to musical theater camps at 10 and got accepted into a performing arts high school. Junior year I taught myself “The clock struck nine” from Romeo and Juliet and won a Shakespeare contest.

I decided to study acting intensively, so I applied to at least five big conservatory-style programs, such as New York University. I felt tense but confident going into my auditions: I did the Juliet monologue, and one from Fences, and I felt optimistic.

Then the rejections started rolling in. The envelopes were all so thin that after a while I didn’t even have to see the words "We regret to inform you..." on the letters inside. I would just immediately know.

I got rejected by every theater school I applied to that year, forcing me to face what I assumed was my reality: “Samira, you’re not good enough to be on the stage.”

My new plan was to go to Temple University—a liberal arts school I had applied to as a backup—and eventually get a job behind the scenes as, say, a casting director to stay close to what I loved.

First semester, though, I took an acting class with a notoriously tough teacher that changed everything. I thought she didn’t like me, until one day she pulled me aside and said, “It might benefit you to audition for a more intensive conservatory.”

I was like, Oh no, she’s got it wrong. I set her straight: “I’m happy here. I applied to all these schools and didn’t get in. They were right: I’m not a good actor. I have tried almost every school except Juilliard.”

And she goes, “Audition for Juilliard.”

I thought she was crazy, but I couldn’t get her words out of my head. I finally told myself, “I’ll audition,” but no part of me— even the slightest—thought I would get in.

My audition for Juilliard felt different than prior ones: When I did the Juliet monologue, my body relaxed in a way it hadn’t before. Then the judges asked me to sing. I grew up singing at church and felt more confident back then singing than acting. I sang “The Star Spangled Banner.”

Still, I knew my name wouldn’t be on the callback list, so I hung back when it got taped up. People were saying, “Oh my God, there’s only three names.” I’ll never forget walking up to the list, scanning it, and seeing a W—Wiley."

I did my callback before 25 to 30 faculty members. Out of the 1,500 people, they would select only 18. And a few weeks later I got the call: “We would like to have you; would you like to join us?” I said, “Uh-huh,” flew out of my room, and ran the dorm floor, knocking on every door: Bang, bang, bang! Friends came into the hall, like, “She got in!”

Juilliard gave me confidence in a way that I had never had before. Teachers told us, “You were the people we picked. We want you here for a reason.” That affirmation was powerful.

In retrospect, I’d tell 18-year- old Samira: Opinion isn’t truth. Keep on. Be patient. Someone once told me success is all about the right role, right person, right project, right time; I’ve been blessed with that in Poussey in Orange Is the New Black and Moira in The Handmaid’s Tale. I do feel worthy of these roles.

There are, of course, times I revert a bit. When I see people I admire at auditions, I’ll question myself. I’m working alongside Elisabeth Moss now, but one time I signed into an audition for another project, saw her name, and thought, Elisabeth Moss is here; why am I here? Combating that insecurity is an everyday journey. You have to tell yourself you’re enough: “No, Samira, we did this already. Remember? We found out you’re worthy. Stop. You’re worthy.”

I hope we all, as women, get to a point where we don’t need reminding. Where we just know: I am worthy; I am big enough for the opportunities that come my way.

—As told to Emily Mahaney

Samira Wiley scored her first Emmy nomination for outstanding supporting actress for her role as Moira in The Handmaid’s Tale. She appears next in Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television* this fall on YouTube Red