Me, sexy? I'm just plain ol' beans and rice.

Does a black person make them an African American? No. There are Hispanics that are very, very dark skinned so the word has lost its meaning, it's not a very concise or proper word to use even today and it wasn't then.

There are just certain realities about our world and I just happen to be creative within it.

I never thought I was pretty. I couldn't even put on eyelashes or makeup.

I don't think I can break down any doors, but I'm thinking, "Maybe I can be a cameraman, because I love the cameras." And the cameraman would show me how to thread the film, how to repair it, the lenses. That's when you become, like, goony goo-goo about it. You breathe and eat camera, and all of a sudden, you don't want anything else in the world. You finally know, "This is my calling." When you're passionate about something, it doesn't become work. It's art and it's fun. It's arduous, it's sweaty.

My grandfather was the first feminist in my life. He taught me if a woman can do something, a man will respect her.

I like serious films, the moneymaking blockbusters that don't make any kind of sense and John Carpenter films.