The way to bring about change is to be proactive and active.
Octavia Spencer
You cannot live to please everyone else. You have to edify, educate and fulfill your own dreams and destiny, and hope that whatever your art is that you're putting out there, if it's received, great, I respect you for receiving it. If it's not received, great, I respect you for not.
We all have hourglass figures; your sand just settles in different places.
When you see results, you start to wonder, 'What would happen if I had oatmeal instead of sausage for breakfast?' You start to eat better because you feel better.
I'm not an optimist. I'm a realist. And my reality is that we live in a multifaceted, multicultural world. And maybe once we stop labeling ourselves, then maybe everyone else will.
'Grey's Anatomy' is a very culturally diverse show.
You just keep moving forward and doing what you do and hope that it resonates with people. And if it doesn't, you just keep moving on until you find a project that does.
There are fewer and fewer roles that I haven't done already, or archetypes that I haven't played, and to break out of that box, the most interesting stuff is television.
Tough love is the hardest to give.
I was a production assistant. I saw what people who are full of themselves are like - another reason not to lose your humility! I have a mouth on me so I wasn't the best P.A.
The mentality of how we treat one another needs to be examined - especially how we treat our men of color.
I think if we give kids a break in education, we would have fewer crimes being committed. If we keep them on track, they know that they have options. It's important for me because, you know, my life would've been different had I not had the education that I had.
I think if I weren't so squeamish, I would have been some sort of forensic analyst. And I can't do anything with a microscope, because then I start thinking about the world of germs around us.
Meeting Oprah Winfrey, I cried like a baby. Meeting Steven Spielberg, I cried like a baby. Meeting Denzel Washington, I gushed like a crazy woman. If I don't get excited or star struck by someone I've been dying to meet, it's time to retire.
The worst is when I know I'm going to have to cry in a scene.
Will Smith would not be Worldwide Will Smith if he had not insisted on going worldwide and touring with his films. You have to build that audience for people and allow for it to happen.
When my car broke down in L.A., nobody stopped. They just kept whizzing by.
I'm probably the most militant person you'll ever meet and I speak my mind without provocation sometimes.
Life is too short, and I need to eat. I am my meanest when I haven't had a meal.
Angry or not. It's a human emotion. But you can't walk around being angry all the time. What a dull person you'd have to be!
I am an advocate of education. It is the panacea for all that ails us in our society.
The pace of television is very different from film.
There's so much bigotry that needs to be overcome.
I'm thrilled I got to work with James Ponsoldt, who is going to make his mark on this industry.
What's so great about DreamWorks is that it's run by filmmakers who believe that if it's not broke, don't fix it.
The first time I saw E.T., the actual image of an alien, and he was so sweet-looking. I wanted him. I wanted E.T.
The college years are when you sow all your wild oats and become a vampire. By 40, you've lived it up. At least, you hope.
We always think that we're going to be young forever, and now when I wake up, I need to stretch, and I need to have my glass of water and be cognizant of what I'm doing with my body.
People think that I have this wonderful hourglass figure, but I owe that to designer Tadashi Shoji because he cuts for me really well.
No person is just one particular emotion.
I have tried every diet to lose weight. When you restrict yourself, you're setting yourself up for failure.
I am not trying to conform to an unrealistic model of beauty. I am, however, being proactive in being the healthiest I can be.
I'm not trying to be a different weight. I want to be a different body type so that I'm not an apple. I just want to be a pear!
You know, bigotry isn't relevant to just the South. It never was. But I'm very grateful that I don't know what it's like from experience.
You have to get out of your comfort zone in order to grow. And as an actor, you don't become Meryl Streep by doing the same type of comedy. You get there by being challenged. And unfortunately, there's a lack of roles for women of color, so you actually have to be the engineer creating some of those roles.
As you make your way along life's tumultuous highways, it's important to note that you should always carry a map, have plenty of fuel in the tank, and take frequent rest stops.
What I love about Tadashi is that he isn't a designer that designs only for a double-zero. He designs for double-Ds, you know? Women of all shapes and sizes can wear him.
When you give kids the tools necessary to change their destiny, it's really empowering.
I think it's actually a misperception that I am a comedic actress. I do more drama than comedy but very little of it has been seen. When you are in big funny movies and they do well and your little part in it kind of explodes people perceive you as a comedian.
If you go through life, and you don't find the beauty in an unexpected place, then you really have a sad existence.
Let me tell you, my career went from zero to 900. Its hard keeping up with that pace, but I wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world.
Auditions make me nervous; any time I have to perform, I get stage fright.
I will live in TV Land watching 'Columbo.' I also like my 'Forensic Files,' all of that true crime.
I gravitate to the roles, not necessarily television or film. It's just the fact that, for me, the most interesting roles have been in television.
I literally don't think about Oscar.
I think diversity is something that should be celebrated because it's who we are as a world, and little kids need to be able to turn on the TV and see real-world representations of themselves. It's very important.
I don't have one role that I want to play. I guess... I want to be a producer. I want to be an activist. I want to be proactive in bringing about work for men, women, boys, girls, everybody who is good at what they do and deserve a shot at it.
There are so few roles out there. And even if it is a film that could be led by a black actress, how many times is that film going to get funded? Let's just be real. But it's not just black people. It's Asians, it's Hispanic people if you're not Salma Hayek. It's hard. It's hard to get films funded.
If a little black girl in Montgomery, Alabama, or some far-reaching region sees something that I do and aspires to do it one day with the knowledge that she can achieve it, then hey, my work is done.
If a great role comes along, and you are too tall to play it, then I think the role is too small for your talents.
