(Walker) told black women that they don't have to be less than they are capable of being. I try to uphold that standard.

I told her her I would play a Venetian blind, dirt on the floor, anything.

. . . what I am is a humanist before anything -- before I'm a Jew, before I'm black, before I'm a woman. And my beliefs are for the human race -- they don't exclude anyone.

I'm fighting the label of "Black" actress simply because it's very limiting in people's eyes, especially people who are making movies.

When I listen to these women, it makes what I thought were my hard knocks now feel like little nudges.

When I listen to these women, it makes what I thought were my hard knocks now feel like little nudges,