In my mind I'm like, "No, Katherine Johnson it was you. It was your mind alone that got John Glenn to orbit the earth." He didn't say, "Go get so in so." He said, "Go get that smart girl." But that fact that that she sees the "we" in "I," blew me away.

I like to be scared. I don't like feeling like "Oh, this is going to be a walk in the park". If I ever get to that place, I'll just stop acting.

At the end of the day, I stand by who I am. I'm a good person.

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.

Katherine Johnson never complained, it just was what it was. She just said, "I just wanted to go to work and do my numbers." And she stopped right there. I think about that as a Black woman in Hollywood when I'm asked about diversity. I hate when people say diversity because the first thing you jump to is Black and white. When you talk about diversity, you're talking about women being hired in front of and behind the camera. You are talking about people with disabilities, the LGBTQ community...so I hate when people think about diversity.

When I get that question, about diversity, I don't go, "Yeah, well you know they don't pay me." That's not my story. I own six properties; Hollywood has been damn good to me. Now you can ask me, "Have they paid you what you deserve?" That's the question, but you'd have to go to the studios, I don't know. I do the work!

When I go home to visit, they never treat me like a celebrity. They still treat me like TJ. If I leave dishes in the sink, they'll let me know.