I get hired to be a certain character, but I cannot change my look especially since I have been in the business this long. I can't gain 20 pounds and wonder why I am not working anymore or I'd have to transition into other types of roles. You have to take care of yourself and be vigilant.

I don't think I avoided being type cast, because I do sometimes get similar roles. It is not a bad thing because we are strong at what we are strong at, not meaning that we cannot do other things, but sometimes somebody else might bring a little more realism than you, because that is more of who they are than who you are. I do get a chance to play other people and other types of roles.

You have to control things, especially with the social media, because once it's out there, it's out there. And that becomes the fact.

Shameless is a show I would watch even if I wasn’t on it, it’s my kind of show.

Whitney won't ever even know what it's like to be 50. Whitney will never know what it's like to be 50. She died before she was 50. So there's nothing to be ashamed of. You should be proud of your age.

The thing that I've learned is to stay ready to be ready, and I tell this to young people all the time. You don't have time to get ready. So, what that means to me is if you don't like your hair, your weave is wack, your teeth need fixing, if your attitude needs adjusting and you need therapy, you really want to lose 10 pounds - whatever that is for you - then you need to work on it starting now.

I want to see 61, and one day I want to see 90, so that means I have to keep having birthdays. So what am I supposed to do? Be ashamed because I'm getting older? No, how about I embrace myself, my age, the space that God has put me in, and learn from and teach other people and we support each other as women, because we're all beautiful - different sizes, shapes, colors - and we celebrate ourselves as we grow older and become better.