My immediate family was always very supportive. It was my own fear of the rest of the world not accepting me, the rest of our society not accepting my wish to be an actor.

I went to the Independent Spirit Awards and won.

[My mother] always said I was beautiful and I finally believed her at some point.

You can’t eat beauty. It doesn’t feed you.

I discovered that joy is not the negation of pain, but rather acknowledging the presence of pain and feeling happiness in spite of it.

We, as human beings, have the capacity for extreme cruelty.

European standards of beauty are something that plague the entire world - the idea that darker skin is not beautiful, that light skin is the key to success and love. Africa is no exception.