I archive a lot of my clothes and have them wrapped up and in boxes. I call them 'little tombs' and keep them in a storage space... I would never get rid of the dress I wore on the night I won my Oscar. When I die, someone can have it, but not a minute before!

Motherhood sort of puts things into perspective, and it's bout real life, and life is about people, what we give, what we take, what we share.

I was black growing up in an all-white neighborhood, so I felt like I just didn't fit in. Like I wasn't as good as everybody else, or as smart, or whatever.

Sexiness is a state of mind - a comfortable state of being. It's about loving yourself in your most unlovable moments.

Just to be true to myself, which is why I did this movie. I figured everyone was going to freak out and say, 'Why would you do that after Dorothy Dandridge?' My answer is 'Because I can.' And that feels really good to be comfortable saying that.

I wish all men were like dogs.

I spent a lot of time with a crown on my head.