I don't like talking about myself and I don't like talking about the work.

My nose was part of my heritage, and if I had talent to sing and to act, why wasn't that enough?

The audience is the barometer of the truth.

My mother never really thought I could become anything.

What is dangerous about the far right is not that it takes religion seriously - most of us do - but rather that it condemns all other spiritual choices - the Buddhist, the Jew, the Muslim, and many others who consider themselves to be good Christians. The wall of separation between church and state is needed precisely because religion, like art, is too important a part of the human experience to be choked by the hands of censors.

We have a president who stole the presidency through family ties, arrogance and intimidation, employing Republican operatives to exercise the tactics of voter fraud by disenfranchising thousands of blacks, elderly Jews and other minorities.

Stay true to yourself. People respond to authenticity.