As human beings, what makes us able to empathize with people is a connection that is not necessarily understood mentally.
I had this vivid image of myself at the age of 60 looking back on my life and truly regretting the fact that I hadn't tried to be an actor
Being called gorgeous is not a bad thing! But at the same time, I don’t want to thrive on people’s opinions of me.
I grew up in Nairobi, which is the capital of Kenya, so it's hustle and bustle, and there's always something going on.
I grew up watching foreign programs - American, English, Mexican, and very little Kenyan. 'The Color Purple' was the first time I saw people who looked like me.
To this day, I love eating steak tacos before going to the red carpets.
We, as human beings, have the capacity for extreme cruelty.
Beautiful people have many advantages, but so do friendly people.
Makeup isn't something I've worn a lot of in my life.
I never, in my wildest dreams, could I have thought that the first role I get out of school would lead to an Oscar nomination.
Whoopi Goldberg looked like me, she had hair like mine, she was dark like me. I'd been starved for images of myself. I'd grown up watching a lot of American TV.
Even in my dreams of being an actor, my dream was not in the celebrity. My dream was in the work that I wanted to do.
I do my best work when I feel conviction to say something through the character I play. Always I want to have integrity and not compromise that.
There's always a sense of newness with acting, because every role, you come to every role fresh.
As human beings, it is our nature to dream about the future, but there is no future without a healthy nature. It's the common denominator that we all depend on, not just to live but to be happy. That's why we owe it to each other to make sure nature stays healthy.
I have a very ostrich mentality. I feel like I have my head in the sand so no one can see me.
I always love to learn new things. That's the reason I like being an actor.
I remember in my very first fitting, costume designer Patricia Norris gave me a garment with these intricate stitches - stitches over stitches, because it had been repaired so many times. Once I put it on, she told me that it belonged to an actual slave woman. My heart just stopped. Each one of the stitches had a story, you know. Just recognizing this period I was going to be dancing with was a "come to Jesus" moment.
I went to an all-boys high school, and they accepted girls in only the two A.P. classes. They had these archaic rules: for example, girls couldn't wear makeup. I found it so outrageous that an all-boys school could tell girls to not wear makeup! So I went on a campaign. I got a petition signed and everything. If a girl wants to wear makeup to boost confidence, why not?
I've always had an involved imagination.
It's so much more fun to do the work than to talk about it. I will have to admit that. Everybody gets to decide how they feel, and what to take away by themselves, and that's what you hope for. That people will take away different things and have different experiences from the work we do as actors. So I don't like to prescribe how to feel about the work I do.
The first time I cut all my hair off was when I was 19. I just got fed up going to the salon every week. I'd had enough! On a whim, it was off. It's low-maintenance.
I have always loved children. I've been fantasizing about motherhood since I was probably 2 ½. I loved to babysit my cousins, and nieces, you know.
I feel a responsibility to myself and my parents and the people whose love has gotten me this far - people who were in my life before fame. That's where I get my sense of self. It's deadly for anyone to take on that role of a deity; it's not sustainable. I've got tons of flaws. Call my mother - she'll tell you! She keeps it real. Sometimes you don't want to hear the truth; she'll tell it to you out of love.
On a very practical level, I've learned the importance of circulation socks for planes. I had this awful experience of getting off a flight to go to an event and my feet had swelled. Try getting into heels then! So you put on the socks for the flight, then you can wear whatever heels you want.
