A man once told me that you step out of your door in the morning, and you are already in trouble. The only question is are you on top of that trouble or not?

[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.

Growing up I didn't watch movies.

When you look in one direction where Troy's chair was, you could see out through the yard across the street, there was an old cork bar advertisement for five cents. We wanted it to feel like this was real life [in Fences] and that it extended blocks and blocks.

I still have my unemployment books and I remember when I worked for the sanitation department and the post office.

One good thing about acting in film is that it's good therapy.

Even though the story [Fences] is set during the 1950s, some contemporary women might have trouble understanding her decision.