I don't try to intellectualize characters too much. But I always think of the audience. I always make sure that my characters are likeable.

Maybe at the core of me, I'm a survivor, but I don't do it on purpose. Sometimes, in acting of course with your performance, some of your own personal character seeps through. My performance goal has always been to perform for the audience. People pay their hard earned money, and so I always desire to give all of myself in every single scene.

If you're an actress and even one person knows your name, you're lucky.

The older I get, the more I'm surprised with life. Things don't end up the way you think they will. Unbelievable and unimaginable things do happen, and then you figure out if you'll be able to step up to the plate or not.

Making African American films are hard in Hollywood. We need to rely on a support network and bring more cohesion to different filmmakers, actors, producers etc. It's a very difficult business. There aren't a lot of Africans Americans or people of color in high positions in Hollywood that we can green-light films.

In my own life, there's no amount of success or money that's more important than your child being healthy and happy. There's nothing that can put a band-aid on that. There's nothing more valuable, to me, than your child.

No matter how you look, we all hurt the same, cry the same, and feel joy the same.