I'm not afraid of portraying anything on-screen.

I'm learning to accept the lack of privacy as the real downer in my profession.

I know I'm only one human being and I'm only making one tiny contribution and it's nothing more than that.

I don't know why, but I respond well to tortured characters.

Anytime you put a movie out it's subject to such scrutiny and such criticism.

And you also have to do movies that are about commerce because that's what is required of the industry today.

I think it's always best to be who you are.

The worst thing a man can ever do is kiss me on the first date.

It is very hard to separate one's self from a character. Sometimes the people closest to me have to be very understanding.

I was black growing up in an all-white neighborhood, so I felt like I just didn't fit in. Like I wasn't as good as everybody else, or as smart, or whatever.

I think I've evolved into someone pretty confident - in myself and in my skin.

I'm a much better mother at 46... than if I were like, 21 or 25.

I always had to prove myself through my actions. Be a cheerleader. Be class president. Be the editor of the newspaper.

By the time I left school, I had a lot of tenacity.

My mother helped me identify myself the way the world would identify me. Bloodlines didn't matter as much as how I would be perceived.

Having a baby takes so much from you. It's the most glorious thing you'll ever do, but the aftermath is not so glorious!

I always had to diet. I'm diabetic, so it's a lifestyle for me anyway just to stay healthy and not end up in the hospital.

I think we have become obsessed with beauty and personally I'm really saddened by the way women mutilate their faces today in search of that.

I'm not done with love, but I refuse to settle.

People win 'Oscars', and then it seems like they fall off the planet. And that's partly because a huge expectation walks in the room and sits right down on top of your head.

Every story about me is so heavy and dramatic. That's not how I do life. But that's the impression people have, and that's what keeps getting reiterated. As if I'm still stuck in all the muck of the past. And I am so not.

Career is important, but nothing really supersedes my roles as a mother.

I'm not the girl for super high fashion because I don't have the right body. When I want to get dressed up, I'm a Roberto Cavalli girl.

I'm not one of these actresses like, 'Okay, where's the camera? Is it here? Is it here?' I don't even ask the questions because I don't really want to know. I like not performing for a camera but giving it my best every single time whether you're close or whether you're far.

I do not love to work out, but if I stick to exercising every day and put the right things in my mouth, then my diabetes just stays in check.

People win Oscars, and then it seems like they fall off the planet. And that's partly because a huge expectation walks in the room and sits right down on top of your head. The moment I won the Oscar, I felt the teardown the very next day.

A person's self-esteem has nothing to do with how she looks.

Throughout my career I have been talked out of things I wanted to do, and when I look back, I think I should have followed my instincts.

I archive a lot of my clothes and have them wrapped up and in boxes. I call them 'little tombs' and keep them in a storage space... I would never get rid of the dress I wore on the night I won my Oscar. When I die, someone can have it, but not a minute before!