I would say a magical thing happened on when the big 40th birthday came. I felt like a light kind of just went off, and maybe that's because I felt like at 40 I had the right to say and be who I wanted to be, say what I wanted to say, and accept what I didn't want to accept.

I always had to prove myself through my actions. Be a cheerleader. Be class president. Be the editor of the newspaper.

You have to get the audience invested even if you're doing something that they think is dumb, it's kind of what these movies are all about.

In Monster's Ball I went nude, which was scary, but I took the chance and that's how I like to approach my career.

Self-esteem comes from who you have in your life. How you were raised. What you struggled with as a child.

When I was younger, living in an all-black neighborhood the other kids thought I was better than them because of my light skin and straight hair. Then we moved to an all-white neighborhood and that was a culture shock ... I'd been used to being around all black kids.

When I was a kid, my mother told me that if you could not be a good loser, then there's no way you could be a good winner.