I come from a loving, supportive family, and my mother taught me that there are more valuable ways to achieve beauty than just through your external features. She was focused on compassion and respect, and those are the things that ended up translating to me as beauty. Beautiful people have many advantages, but so do friendly people.... I think beauty is an expression of love.

I had this vivid image of myself at the age of 60 looking back on my life and truly regretting the fact that I hadn't tried to be an actor

In the madness, you have to find calm.

I have a very ostrich mentality. I feel like I have my head in the sand so no one can see me.

I'm pretty awesome at making salad dressings.

I do my best work when I feel conviction to say something through the character I play. Always I want to have integrity and not compromise that.

There is no shame in black beauty.