I'm not cheap, I'm thrifty.
Kym Whitley
After my episode of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' ran, Larry David and JJ Abrams were like, 'I discovered her,' but I was like 'Hold up. Please. I'm from 'Next Friday.' Everybody knows me!'
I've always had an entourage. Even when I was a little kid, I had a lot of little children following around me.
In the African American community, we are very 'hush, hush' about things in our life.
I've always dreamed of becoming a mother. I thought I would get married and do it all the traditional way, but life kept going on, my career kept me busy - and I had not stopped to become a mommy.
I saw Nichelle Nichols in 'Truck Turner,' and she was so good.
My cousin was Ron O'Neal, who was 'Superfly.' Films like 'Shaft' and 'Superfly' were the biggest things out there in the early '70s. It's hard to remember just how big they were - how much impact they had on the culture, the music, the fashions, the hair styles.
My parenting style is probably like that of my parents, because you do how you learn. My mother was very nurturing and loving, but very stern. She was a disciplinary. My dad was also very loving.
Shaker Heights, Ohio is a predominately white neighborhood. It was when I moved in, and it still is.
Cooking for my son is a challenge. I have to feed him right. He can't eat French fries and candy every day.
I worked with Marlon Wayans on the show 'They Wayans Brothers,' and we hit it off. One thing about Marlon, when he casts a movie or a TV show, he expects you to bring it. You've got to be ready to improv, because Marlon will say anything, and you've got to be ready to come back.
Sometimes you have to change the mold. If people keep following the same Hollywood mold, you're going to get the same thing. And as a Black actress, there's not a whole lot out there for us, unless we're creating it.
I've thought my show would be a sitcom or a talk show. Never in a million years would I have thought my show would be docu-series/reality because you always think reality is something crazy.
'College Road Trip' is colorless. It's not a black film. It's not a white film.
Of course I watch 'Life with La Toya' on OWN.
It doesn't matter if a child comes to you or through you. That love is still the same. You are still a mother.
I've always wanted to work with children, to help people, and to be funny.
I love female company. I love men, but women are different.
I want adopted people to know they were chosen.
I didn't know that my son had allergies until he spit up eggs one day, and one day he had a little peanut butter and his face swelled up. I took him to get tested and found out that he is allergic to everything.
So many people are busy working now, but we need to go back to the old days when grandma and the neighbors helped raise the children, and we were all the better for it.
I'm always fighting with profanity and Christian comedy. I'm telling you, it's always a fight. Because my father said to me, he said, 'Well, Kym, I feel like comics and people that use profanity, you have a lack of vocabulary, actually, a whole lot.'
My parents were funny. My brothers were funny. We just laughed and had a good time. Growing up, it breeds that. It breeds your funny. It breeds your creativity.
I believe that people just want to laugh and have a good time.
It feels like I'm in a swimming pool, and I am constantly trying to stay above water. Sometimes I feel like I'm slipping, and you try to come up for air, and that's how it is when looking for the next role.
Sometimes, moms have to be creative to get their babies to eat healthy.
It's so much easier when you're a size two or three to just slip on anything. But a big girl, sometimes you've got to strap some stuff down!
We still have to create things for African American women. Just like Tyler Perry is doing it, we can't wait for things to happen; you have to go and make and create roles and go to people.
I come from a long line of architects. I'm the only one who did not become an architect, but I've been around the drawing aspect and construction my whole life.
A woman is a woman. A woman has male problems, has job problems, and I think funny is funny.
The OWN network is all about inspiring and enlightening.
I am a different kind of celebrity; I don't have the big, giant house, the fancy cars, and all the designer stuff. I am just a girl from Cleveland.
I think the arts are absolutely necessary for children to be creative and express themselves because every child is different.
I love Cleveland, and I love going back home. That's where my family is. That's where my roots are.
When I first came to Los Angeles, I was a teacher in Compton. I know how in need schools are around the country.
Back in the day, we ate fresh; our parents cooked. Now, we're starting to think things are fresh because they're in a can, they're in a box, or they're frozen. That's not fresh. It's difficult to get real fresh.
Carrying envy makes life more difficult.
It is a challenge trying not to give in to pleasing other people.
Voice work is the best - no need to dress up, no audience, no pressure, nobody's judging you.
I encourage people to get a village so that there will always be someone who's like family looking out for your child.
As an actress, our hours can be grueling, and like any mother that has a career or job, it is difficult. Balancing spending time with your child in the morning and after they come home from daycare/school before is the key.
I've always wanted to be a man for a day.
If you could draw a picture of the best high school in the world - where all the teachers are wonderful and all the classrooms are beautiful, it would be my high school.
You can talk about reality TV if you want to, but guess what - it was a big commercial for Kym Whitley.
