If you get a little gassy, you've got to let it go. So people used to say to me, 'You're like a whoopee cushion.'

There are roles I am never considered for. Meryl Streep roles, let's say. Why not? I really wanted to do 'Ironweed,' for example, because the depression era in this country was one of the best for multiracial people, because everybody was poor. Everybody lived in the tents, and under buildings, and under gratings, together.

[On writing to Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple:] I told her I would play a Venetian blind, dirt on the floor, anything.

We're dealing with old issues that aren't ours. We carry them and we pass them on to those who come after us. I am hoping to crack some of those.

For some reason, all artists have self-esteem issues.

Really, darling, it's a no-brainer. You know, I understand not everybody is for gay marriage. But if you're not for gay marriage, don't marry a gay person. That's what I say

If I was doing a talk show, I would do the kind of show that comes on just once a month, with amazing guests.