If I feel like I've reached this greatness in my career than there's no more room for growth. I don't think I'm ever going to get there. If I ever get complacent, it's time for me to bow out.

I really wish Hollywood would stop labeling movies, especially movies with predominantly black casts. Then, it makes others feel like, "Oh, well, that's not for me." At the end of the day, everybody understands love, loss, pain and heartbreak. That's not a color.

People live by example. I can't tell you, "You can be anything," if I shot my own dreams down or was too afraid to go after them.

Improvisation helps because you get what's on the page and you make it a little more palatable to your tongue. And that's the beauty of creating and being spontaneous. That's the way I love to work.

It's an important moment [win an Emmy]. I just feel like I want it to happen tonight, either for myself or Viola [Davis] so we can get past it, so it's not big news anymore. I mean, it is 2015. We have a black president.

It's up to you to be responsible for how you feel if you're not happy. Your happiness lies in your hands. You can't rely on a man to make you happy or complete you. That starts with you.

If I were to meet the most incredible man, and he just so happened to not make as much money as I do, I wouldn't hold it against him.