Even in my dreams of being an actor, my dream was not in the celebrity. My dream was in the work that I wanted to do.

Even in my dreams of being an actor, my dream was not in the celebrity. My dream was in the work that I wanted to do.

Everyone said, ‘Brace yourself, Lupita! Keep a granola bar in that clutch of yours!’ I didn’t really understand what they meant, and it was only once it was past that I realized that my body had been holding on by a thread to get through this very intense experience. Nothing can prepare you for awards season. The red carpet feels like a war zone, except you cannot fly or fight; you just have to stand there and take it.

Human beings have an instinct for freedom.

It's only when you risk failure that you discover things. When you play it safe, you're not expressing the utmost of your human experience.

That you will feel the validation of your external beauty but also get to the deeper business of being beautiful inside. There is no shade in that beauty.

There is no shame in black beauty.