I come from a family of domestics. I think most African-Americans of my age do. They were trusted by their bosses. I have met so many white people that spent more time with their nannies than they have with their own parents.

I'm not Tyler Perry. I'm not Dino De Laurentis. I think it's a bit much to put one's name in front of the film. It makes me uncomfortable.

I wanted to make a black 'Dynasty.'

To come into my world, I've got some M&Ms and some potato chips, and I'm asking you to move furniture. We're making a movie. We're making it like we're putting on a play.

I have a very clear vision, and I come from film, where director is God, so if there's a clash, it's painful.

I had trained myself not to go to the bathroom throughout my elementary and junior high school years because I was bullied. And you don't understand why you're being bullied, so you just suppress it.

I've had all types of beautiful girls tell me that they ugly when they look in the mirror, as if it's someone else's reflection they see.

The rules are: The only ego is the film, and you have to serve the film.

I definitely caught the acting bug, but that lasted for about two seconds when I found my way to L.A. and found that my talents were better suited behind the cameras.

At 19, I was in the streets making money. I was surviving.

'Precious' is so not P.C. What I learned from doing the film is that even though I am black, I'm prejudiced. I'm prejudiced against people who are darker than me.

I love actors, and I'm very protective of them. I trust them. It's a mutual trust.

I believe strongly that characters are five-dimensional, and they're complicated, and life is complicated, and people are complicated.

I've never done a studio movie, let alone worked for a network. Every one of my films has been independently financed.

When people don't like the film, I can take a bullet. I don't mind you talking about me, but I'm protective of my actors, because they bared their soul for me.

I see the world from a very specific perspective. It is how I grew up. It is what I am proud of, and I vocalize it. And for those who have not experienced my experience, it is odd, and it's not mainstream.

I like to show the grey area in all my characters.

Most actors want the audience to like them, and that leads to bad acting.

I want to learn. I want to stretch my muscles as a director and work under different circumstances.

When I was young, I went to a church where the lighter-skinned you were, the closer you sat to the altar.

I'm not really vegan. I'm vegan-ish. I have a piece of lamb every now and then.

People enjoy making fun of people who are famous; they love putting people down.

I am so used to having two faces. A face that I had for black America and a face for white America. When Obama became president, I lost both faces. Now I only have one face.

I went to school at Radnor High School. And I went to a liberal arts college in St. Louis, Missouri, called Lindenwood College.