One of my foolish qualities is to jump boldly, and then think about it later.

I'm able to inspire other people, to see the potential of a career, they can look to me and see that they can do it.

I've come to really believe that I have something to offer as a filmmaker, that goes beyond what I had to offer as an actress and maybe this is what I'm meant to do.

Honestly, I do spend most of my time between films trying to get the next one made.

I don't over-think my existence. I'm a very imperfect person, like most of us are. I'm also a very busy person. I have a family. I have a career. I'm a professor at NYU. I have a full life for which I feel grateful every day.

I encountered Newton when I was growing up, and it has kind of made me who I am, although I came to love Boston. It's a complicated city. Some of the smartest people in the world are in Boston. How many institutions of higher learning are in that one area? It's a pool of intelligence. It's a great town. You can encounter racism anywhere. I have a lot of nostalgic feelings about Boston. It was a cool place to grow up.

Black Nativity certainly lends itself to reinterpretation. It was kind of designed to be infused with the creativity of whoever is putting it on, and every performance is a little bit different. So, this is definitely my version of Black Nativity. It has its own story, which is a family story. Langston Hughes' Black Nativity informs it, and is contained within it.