Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Unfortunately, there's a lack of roles for women of color, so you actually have to be the engineer creating some of those roles.
Every character I get to play has some element of who I am, but there's no fun in playing yourself. At least, for me, there isn't.
My family supported me before any of this crazy notion of moving out to Hollywood and staking my claim. That support has never waned.
Only when you find the courage to say something to someone that might influence a change in your behavior, does that behavior change.
People think that I have this wonderful hourglass figure, but I owe that to designer Tadashi Shoji because he cuts for me really well.
You know, bigotry isn't relevant to just the South. It never was. But I'm very grateful that I don't know what it's like from experience.
Even in my music, I am always searching for big, universal things - ways that you can sort of reach outside the norm of what you are doing.
Let me tell you, my career went from zero to 900. Its hard keeping up with that pace, but I wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world.
For me, when you have to prepare to play God, and then walking away from that, you realize just how tough God's job is. I don't want that job.
I'll say that I don't think you can throw a stone and not come in contact with someone who knows someone or has problems with substance abuse.
It is important to learn as much as you can about the person and then throw it all away so that you're not in any way doing some sort of mimicry.
I gravitate to the roles, not necessarily television or film. It's just the fact that, for me, the most interesting roles have been in television.
It baffles me that everything is so homogenized, because the world isn't, and yet we continue to support things that are so incredibly milquetoast.
I have an affinity for the law. I like looking at the small type on contracts, and if I could have afforded law school, I probably would have gone.
I want to see more Asian. I want to see more Latin. I want more Indian. There's more than Mindy Kaling out there, guys! There's more than Bai Ling.
I like to read, even though it was really tough, because I could go anywhere in the world in a book, and I could have so many adventures in a book.
I was starstruck and sweat a lot when I met Oprah Winfrey and tried to hug her. Because when you think you know people when you see them from your couch.
Hollywood is strange in and of itself. People dress up and pretend to be other people, and you can either make millions of dollars, or no money. It's odd.
When we don't have all the details about our characters, we have to make it up to fill in all the details. So, for me, writing and acting go hand in hand.
I have to lead a very small life in terms of what people think 'Hollywood' is. It's a full life for me, but I'm not jetting across the world. But life is good.
When you see results, you start to wonder, 'What would happen if I had oatmeal instead of sausage for breakfast?' You start to eat better because you feel better.
The misperception about the South is that everybody is racist, and all black people are victims, that what was prevalent in the '60s is only relegated to the South.
You just keep moving forward and doing what you do and hope that it resonates with people. And if it doesn't, you just keep moving on until you find a project that does.
The one thing that I realize - well, not the one thing, but it was a big thing - having in my head that I need to get healthier. It's been a very gradual process for me.
There are fewer and fewer roles that I haven't done already, or archetypes that I haven't played, and to break out of that box, the most interesting stuff is television.
What I love about Tadashi is that he isn't a designer that designs only for a double-zero. He designs for double-Ds, you know? Women of all shapes and sizes can wear him.
You just keep moving forward and doing what you do, and hope that it resonates with people. And if it doesn't, you just keep moving on until you find a project that does.
I don't think that moms, with all that's going on in our society today, would want to put their kids in front of something that will be disheartening rather than uplifting.
Your parents only want what's best for you. They know a career in the arts usually means living paycheck to paycheck; they just want you to know that you have other options!
I'm a woman who eventually will get married and have kids - adopted at this point - but I see myself with a family and less time to commit to wanting to be a lead character.
I was a production assistant. I saw what people who are full of themselves are like - another reason not to lose your humility! I have a mouth on me so I wasn't the best P.A.
As you make your way along life's tumultuous highways, it's important to note that you should always carry a map, have plenty of fuel in the tank, and take frequent rest stops.
I like a person who knows how to say something dark at a very dark moment. The darker the moment and the darker the comic, the better. Something that is so wrong on all levels.
I know I'm never going to be one of those size 2 actresses - that's just not me. But I do want to be the healthiest I can be, and a role model to women of all shapes and sizes.
There are enough negative images of Black women out there and I did not want to portray Dorothy Vaughn in any stereotype. I wanted to make sure that her integrity was preserved.
I'm not an optimist. I'm a realist. And my reality is that we live in a multifaceted, multicultural world. And maybe once we stop labeling ourselves, then maybe everyone else will.
God in my mind gives you what you need. So, if you need God to be a black woman and you need that for whatever your reasons are, then perhaps your blessings will come in that form.
We always think that we're going to be young forever, and now when I wake up, I need to stretch, and I need to have my glass of water and be cognizant of what I'm doing with my body.
People who are overweight face discrimination. African-Americans face discrimination. Women face discrimination and sexism. So I don't have the luxury of not being tolerant of anyone.
Will Smith would not be Worldwide Will Smith if he had not insisted on going worldwide and touring with his films. You have to build that audience for people and allow for it to happen.
There is so much art can do to enlighten people, no matter what their views might be. If art can't go there or doesn't elevate the social consciousness in some way, then we are in peril.
Yes, you want to do studio movies, but I also want to grow as an actor, and an actress like me is not going to get roles where you grow and evolve in a studio film. It's just not gonna happen.
I think if I weren't so squeamish, I would have been some sort of forensic analyst. And I can't do anything with a microscope, because then I start thinking about the world of germs around us.
I should be married and have 19 kids. And now I'm thinking my eggs are dying on the shelf. They're going to go past their expiration date. But it's what I chose, so I'm fine with that decision.
Being a part of a large family is just like a little society: those who fight to the top of the heap. We relied on each other and still do. They never discouraged me or told me to get a proper job.
If a little black girl in Montgomery, Alabama, or some far-reaching region sees something that I do and aspires to do it one day with the knowledge that she can achieve it, then hey, my work is done.
Christian Louboutin, I love you, but honey, please! But when you have this much weight, you've got to give us a little platform. Sorry! The shoes are stunning though. An ounce of pain, it's worth it.
City Year resonated with me because when I grew up, we were poor - and an education is a way out of poverty. It's a way out of the current situation that can seem isolating and hopeless for some kids.
It's very seldom that we see the good of the South. There is a perception that Southerners are racists and everyone else in the nation is 'enlightened.' There is racism everywhere, and there is good everywhere.
I don't ever want to be the type of person to tell you what to think or what to believe. Whatever stage in your life that you are in, I want you to organically reach whatever conclusions that you possibly reach.