When I started off as an actress, I did at a play at the Taper Too Theatre here in Los Angeles, called 'In The Abyss Of Coney Island.' That was more of a dramatic play. It was a small theater house. This was the first time I was literally on the road, doing a play, for four months.

I'm so glad that Hollywood and America are embracing women when they get in their 40s instead of putting us out to pasture.

Being in front of the audience, letting my audience see me in person - it is real intimate, you get to make them laugh and cry, they get to feel you. And then afterward, we go out and do a meet-and-greet session with the fans. It was just a wonderful experience. I really, really enjoyed it.

I must always have fresh orange juice, alkaline water and hazelnut creamer for my coffee.

I don't like to see projects that are all black or all white. It's how life is. I do like to make sure that I do a nice black family film; that's like keeping my home base. I do other things, but I like to always come back to a positive family film, because of all the negative influences today.

Being a producer and a star of the play was a lot more challenging and difficult than I ever anticipated, but so rewarding. I got to be involved with the writing, the casting.

Cougars are all the rage! I'm so glad that Hollywood and America are embracing women when they get in their 40s instead of putting us out to pasture. That's when a woman's in her peak. That's when she's hot. She's already been through all of the junk. She's confident. Secure with who she is.