[My father] could see as far as he could see and my mother wanted us to go to college so it was a very real part of my life.

We all are doing the best we can. I would like to say that I'm a walking poster board for feminism and women's liberation, but there are things that I do in my life that deeply, deeply fall short of being a statement for being a strong woman. I am flawed as much as anyone else.

I think a role model is a mentor - someone you see on a daily basis, and you learn from them.

You pray for rain, you gotta deal with the mud too. That's a part of it.

I think we're fascinated by gangsters and that whole lifestyle and crossing the line. We get sort of stuck in our normal lives, if you will, and you want to be bigger than life and I think people somehow live through these sorts of characters.

My mother never gave up one me. I messed up in school so much they were sending me home, but my mother sent me right back.

A part of me still says, 'Maybe, Denzel, you're supposed to preach. Maybe you're still compromising.' I've had an opportunity to play great men and, through their words, to preach. I take what talent I've been given seriously, and I want to use it for good.