I am the only consistent person in my life and so I better like myself, and I better love myself. And I really better know that I'm as beautiful as anyone else.

Being an actor is wonderful and it's a lot of fun, but eventually you look old and you can't fit this or that. It's important to have other skills, be able to do other things, and to really learn how this business works and what it thrives on.

I can flip my tongue over. Only one in 10,000 people can. I learned that at Ripley's Believe It or Not!

Mo'Nique is so full of love. I've been describing her as the tree in 'Pocahontas.' She's so wise and loving. She is just everything.

I complain about my life. I used to complain about boys or not being able to drive or failing a test. Now I complain about boys, not being able to drive, and leaving home so much.

My goal was just to live a good life that I was happy with. And I wasn't exactly sure that that meant being the star of a movie.

I've grown up with girls that are like Precious. I've grown up with people that are like everyone that I read about in that book. And so years later, when I was given the role, I just felt a huge responsibility to show the reality of that situation and to show that we're not making it up.