I sort of feel like that's the most revolutionary thing we can do with our narrative for me as Black people is to show that we are just like you.

I've always just simply seen myself as an actor. And I believe that it serves me well to just think in terms of my craft. If hypothetically, I saw myself only as a sex symbol, or as some other limited stereotype, I think I would feel like a complete failure.

I did want to mark the fact that it was the first African-American to win the Lead Actress category.I thought it was so progressive.

If the opportunity is not out there for you to play it, then you don't see it.

When your passion and drive are bigger than your fears, you just dive.

You see all the young girls, and they're so skinny. I actually don't even twirl anymore. They say, "Twirl, let us see your back." I just tell 'em, "I do not twirl. If you want to see my back, when I walk away, you can take a picture of it. I'm not twirling." You know, I twirled once, and I almost fell. It looks ridiculous. So I said I'm not twirling anymore.

When you're really passionate, you're going to grab hold of every rope you see, and wrap them around your arms and legs to claw your way out. And that's the way I've felt in my life.