I never know when somebody's going to knock on the door of my own unconscious in a way that I wouldn't have anticipated.

I think what I am is a "convener"; I like to convene people around ideas.

Movies, as evidenced by a chorus of protesting and celebrating Americans, influence broader trends.

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

My main concern is theater, and theater does not reflect or mirror society. It has been stingy and selfish, and it has to do better.

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.

Some people study a text very deeply. The people are my text. I study their words and what their words sound like, over and over again.