- All Quotes
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I used to believe that if my career was going great, then I was not entitled to a great personal life. Well, I've stopped thinking that way. I believe I can have it all.
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Being a mother is probably the most important thing in my life right now.
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I do not love to work out, but if I stick to exercising every day and put the right things in my mouth, then my diabetes just stays in check.
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I'm not one of these actresses like, 'Okay, where's the camera? Is it here? Is it here?' I don't even ask the questions because I don't really want to know. I like not performing for a camera but giving it my best every single time whether you're close or whether you're far.
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I think I've evolved into someone pretty confident - in myself and in my skin.
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My mother always said to me, 'You're going to have to work harder and have to be better, and you can't take no for an answer'.
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People win 'Oscars', and then it seems like they fall off the planet. And that's partly because a huge expectation walks in the room and sits right down on top of your head.
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When you grow up in that (multi-ethnic) environment, you see the world differently. Being a mixed-race child, I didn't always see colour in people, I really didn't. It was other people that made me see the colour all the time.
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Self-esteem comes from who you have in your life. How you were raised. What you struggled with as a child.
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It's an amazing feeling to know that life is actually growing inside your body. The first time you see the ultrasound and you see the little bones and you realise that it's part of you and it's in your care is life changing and this sort of protective instinct has taken over.
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The fact is that I like thrillers and action movies. But what really fulfills me is getting out of my comfort zone, taking chances.
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Actors always have to fight for the good parts. There are so few good roles written for women each year, and when one is written like this every actress in town covets the role.
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You have to get the audience invested even if you're doing something that they think is dumb, it's kind of what these movies are all about.
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I want to do roles that are fun and challenging and I want to try different things. I don't want to keep doing Monster's Ball over and over and over again. I want to keep doing my career the way that I was doing it before I won the Oscar.
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When a young woman tells me that she wants to become and actor, I say, 'No, be a writer. Or go to business school and learn how to run a studio.' The only real change will come from behind the scenes.
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Being biracial is sort of like being in a secret society. Most people I know of that mix have a real ability to be in a room with anyone, black or white.
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Being a black woman, I've often felt I've been judged by my sex and my race, and I have always known that it shouldn't hamper me.
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I don't buy into that pressure to be glamorous all the time. It's impossible, I mean, you get a pimple in the morning, you wake up with bags under your eyes, you see if you can use it in your work, maybe incorporate it into your character.
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I get offered varied parts, often super sexy roles. But I still think it's an issue to find the good scripts. It's a myth that you win an Oscar and you get more opportunities, and this doesn't just go for me.
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I've also grown as an actor as I've got older in life. I've learnt how to go to work, immerse myself 100 per cent in the character and, at the end of the day, take it all off and go back, get a nice bubble bath, have a nice massage and realise that is not my life. And that feels good.
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I've always liked to go down a different path. Being a woman of color, I never followed a cookie cutter way.
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You know, she often tells me that what I do is great. I don't think she ever thought I would end up doing this with my life. But I think she is happier that I haven't changed over the years, that I am still me, that I care about her and that we are the same as we always were. And I think that is what makes her most proud.
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For me, the walk of the character is always the first part that I must define for myself.
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I'm not obsessive, like I have to have the best butt or the best abs, but I like the idea of feeling strong and healthy. It's important to feel good about myself physically.