As an artist, you've got to see the mess. That's what we do. We get a human being, and it's like putting together a puzzle. And the puzzle has got to be a mixture, a multifaceted mixture of human emotions, and not all of it is going to be pretty.

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I was like, 'What is this?' Until I found out it was stress related. That's how I internalized it. I don't do that anymore. My favorite saying in the world is, 'The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.' I am telling you, I have spent so much of my life not feeling comfortable in my skin. I am just so not there anymore.

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Each role has its own different challenges.

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Any actor will tell you, as soon as your ego and your vanity come into the mix, it destroys your work. Completely destroys it.

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We as artists cannot be politicians. We as artists can only be truth-tellers.

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I would love to be remembered as a person who used her life to inspire others in any way, shape or form.

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Creativity only resonates if you infuse real life into the work.

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I’m a black woman who is from Central Falls, Rhode Island. I’m dark skinned. I’m quirky. I’m shy. I’m strong. I’m guarded. I’m weak at times. I’m sensual. I’m not overtly sexual. I am so many things in so many ways and I will never see myself on screen. And the reason I will never see myself up on screen is because that does not translate with being black.

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Womanhood is you. Womanhood is everything that's inside of you.

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They say the two most important days in a person's life were the day you were born and the day you discover why you were born.

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