REGARDING HER OSCAR NOMINATION (and TYLER PERRY): “People were like: ‘You just get nominated for an Oscar and the first movie you do is a Tyler Perry film?’ Well, it’s not like Scorsese called me! Tyler was the only call i got the day after the Oscars. And he gave me a quote. Up until then, I had no quote. I was getting paid pennies to do movies. Tyler treated me like a queen.”
REGARDING FRIENDSHIP: “I’ve got my road dogs who were with me before all other fame. My best friend in the whole wide world I’ve known since the seventh grade. My other girlfriend was my roommate at Howard. They are my backbone. They know me. When they see me, they look behind the eyes into my soul to see if I’m really alright.”
REGARDING BEING [a] BLACK ACTRESS: “It’s always a battle for black women, we’re totally at
