Hollywood, that whole industry, is a lot like a really small town. You bump into the same people all the time. I think Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon can be played with anyone and everyone in Hollywood.

The best thing about having my very first audition lead me to an Oscar nomination means that I don't have to struggle the rest of my career to be nominated for an Oscar, to prove that I'm a great actress, because I've already done it. Now I can do things that just make me happy.

I don't think my brand of self-confidence and self-assuredness can come from an outside source. It's got to come from me.

I learned to love myself, because I sleep with myself every night and I wake up with myself every morning, and if I don't like myself, there's no reason to even live the life.

I can't go to sleep unless I've watched at least two episodes of American Dad on Hulu or iTunes. It just feels familiar. It's like a lullaby.

One of my favorite - well, my favorite, favorite, absolute favorite event to go to is Alfre Woodard has a party that I call the blacktress party. It's, like, black actresses that either have been nominated for an Oscar or should have been, and it sort of is just a night where we all get in a room and we get to celebrate each other.

It doesn't have anything to do with how the world perceives you. What matters is what you see.