There's got to be a voice deep within you that is untouched by definitions. And it is there that you become divinely who you are.
He is a regular guy who absolutely is not attracted to his own celebrity. He's a jokester, a little rough around the edges, with great heart and compassion; he loves his family. I feel very comfortable with him. I don't see 'Denzel Washington Star'; I just see Denzel.
I think sometimes what people miss about black people is that we're complicated, that we are indeed messy, that we do our best with what we've been given. We come into the world exactly like you. It's just that there are circumstances in the culture that are dictated and put on our lives that we have to fight against.
We all have different narratives; all of our narratives are at different stages of development.
I've been online doing all kinds of research and that seems to be the constant criticism, that Aibileen's accent was just too thick. And for me, I don't want anything to distract from the character.
Acting came from growing up in dysfunction. I mean, a lot of great times, but a lot of dysfunction.
I look back on those early days in the theater like the beginning of a love affair, when you're totally in love with the work, and that's all there is.
Egos are an occupational hazard in acting, but I don't have much of one, and my husband doesn't have much of one, so it's good.
What it meant for me to win the Emmy is I found it. It's not just the award. It's what it's going to mean to young girls - young brown girls, especially. When they saw a physical manifestation of a dream, I felt like I had fulfilled a purpose.
You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there.
Those things that we probably are ashamed of as human beings, certain things that no one would ever talk about - as actors, when we transform into a character, we empathize with those moments.
The predator wants your silence. It feeds their power, entitlement, and they want it to feed your shame.
As an actor, every opportunity, every role, everything that I do is an opportunity to have someone have a human experience with my work. I don't just want it to be about a cute wardrobe and a high paycheck.
What excites me is just taking some time to breathe in life. The mundane is very exciting.
So many women characters are extensions of male fantasy.
And this is what was fascinating to me about 'The Help'; they were ordinary people who did extraordinary things.
'Fences' is under the headline of the project of my lifetime. It is the most perfect and undeniably developed narrative that I've ever worked on.
Flashy characters are more entertaining to people because you get it. You don't have to work to get someone who says what they mean and says what they think. They're out there. It's harder to play a quiet character because everything happens in their stream of consciousness.
I would like to say that I'm a walking poster board for feminism and women's liberation, but there are things that I do in my life that deeply, deeply fall short of being a statement for being a strong woman. I am flawed as much as anyone else.
In life, you know, they do this in focus groups; if you were in such and such circumstance, what would you do? Well, you never know what you're going do unless you're faced with it.
