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I love working with kids and seeing the light come on when they realize they are smart. It's so beautiful to watch.
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The fact that women are very young in obtaining their civil rights and African-Americans are young in obtaining their civil rights, I think it's about time that we extend that to all Americans, whether straight, gay, purple, green, black, brown.
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I look for roles that resonate with me these days. While I love putting out just fabulous entertainment, I think now as artists, especially with so much uncertainty going on in the world, you want to be a part of things that offer or promote healing in some way and perhaps a little introspection once you leave.
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When my car broke down in L.A., nobody stopped. They just kept whizzing by.
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My idea of success is not Oscars. Am I glad I have that little trinket? Yes, I am. But it depends on how you define success. The minute I got my first professional cheque from Joel Schumacher, I was successful. Somebody's paying me to act!
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The thing about the South is we accept our history. We don't push it under the rug.
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I probably wanted to be Pam Grier growing up.
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My weight has always been a struggle for me.
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I think diversity is something that should be celebrated because it's who we are as a world, and little kids need to be able to turn on the TV and see real-world representations of themselves. It's very important.
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If a great role comes along, and you are too tall to play it, then I think the role is too small for your talents.
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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.
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Be happy in your own skin.
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I gravitate to whatever looks good on me and whatever maakes me feel sexy.
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If you come out of the gate with a finger pointed, then you really aren't opening the door to any sort of resolution to whatever the problem may be. Whether it's about race or sexual orientation or religion, if you can't empathize with the opposing party, then you can't really meet in the middle.
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My mom always told me I could do or be anything I dared to dream, and I always wanted to work in the movie industry.
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The most I like about cooking is eating what someone else has cooked.
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Life is too short, and I need to eat. I am my meanest when I haven't had a meal.
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I've seen too many sunrises, as far as the walk of shame, staying out too late doing very bad things.
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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.
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It was never easy being Cicely Tyson. And it will not be easy being Octavia or Viola Davis.
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You have to create your own path and I'm up to the challenge.
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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.
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The reality is that there are so few roles out there for women and for women of color, and I'm a character actor, this I know. And I'm getting to see more of the roles that are out there, but there aren't many. And zilch have been studio movies. Zilch.
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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.