When I got to be about 16,17 I got into a beauty pageant and I was allowed to start playing around with makeup.

What's hardest for me to swallow is when there is a love story, say, with a really high-profile male star and there's no reason I can't play the part. They say, 'Oh, we love Halle, we just don't want to go black with this part.'

People win 'Oscars', and then it seems like they fall off the planet. And that's partly because a huge expectation walks in the room and sits right down on top of your head.

I think my feet are my sexiest body part. People I find really sexy include Angelina Jolie, George Clooney and my mum.

Let me tell you something - being thought of as a beautiful woman has spared me nothing in life. No heartache, no trouble. Love has been difficult. Beauty is essentially meaningless and it is always transitory.

I don't see a white woman. I see a black woman, even though my mother is white. Knowing that has made my life easier, I think.

I also have been called that terrible "N" word straight to my face and not known what to do about it because it was just in like 1993 that someone called me that.