That artists are called to be more responsible and 'true' is a tip of hat to their power.

Discipline — both mental and physical — is crucial.

We who are in the arts are at the risk of being in a popularity contest rather than a profession. If that fact causes you despair . . . pick another profession. Your desire to communicate must be bigger than your relationship with the chaotic and unfair realities . . . We have to create our own standards of discipline.

I see myself first and foremost as a student of expression.

I feel like my work has been my path to freedom from having grown up in a segregated environment.

I am interested in personal stories because that's when people become expressive, spontaneous and heartfelt.

When I got out of acting school, I was lucky to have gotten any job at all. A lot of people hiring African American actresses - it was right after 'Roots,' and for society, not me, it was great. Nice richly dark-skinned people was the fashion, and I was not.