I never, in my wildest dreams, could I have thought that the first role I get out of school would lead to an Oscar nomination.

I loved duping my parents; I liked manipulating them. It was a way for me to stand out. It was fun.

I remember in my very first fitting, costume designer Patricia Norris gave me a garment with these intricate stitches - stitches over stitches, because it had been repaired so many times. Once I put it on, she told me that it belonged to an actual slave woman. My heart just stopped. Each one of the stitches had a story, you know. Just recognizing this period I was going to be dancing with was a "come to Jesus" moment.

We don't get to pick the genes we want. There's room in this world for beauty to be diverse.

I feel privileged that people are looking up to me and perhaps a dream will be born because of my presence.

You win an Oscar, and immediately people ask how you feel. So you don't have time to actually feel anything because you have to generate a response. And then some of the feelings you have are so intimate and visceral, words don't really do them justice.

Your value is in yourself; the other stuff will come and go.