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" Being a part of '12 Years a Slave' has been one of the most profound experiences of my life. "

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" I was raised in Kenya, and I always wanted to be an actor from when I was really, really little, but the first time I thought it was something that I could make a career of was when I watched 'The Color Purple.' I think I was nine, maybe, and I saw people that looked like me - Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah. "

" I'm Mexican and Kenyan at the same time. I've seen the quarrels over my nationality, but I'm Kenyan and Mexican at the same time. So again, I am Mexican-Kenyan, and I am fascinated by carne asada tacos. "

" Growing up, I had really bad skin. I had a skin disorder. Yes, I did. And my mother went to great lengths to try to find something to remedy it. I remember she took a trip to Madagascar and came back with all these alternative, medicinal herbs and stuff. They didn't smell so good, but I think they worked some magic. "

" As actors, you become an expert at starting over. "

" I was part of a growing community of women who were secretly dealing with harassment by Harvey Weinstein. But I also did not know that there was a world in which anybody would care about my experience with him. "

" I feel privileged that people are looking up to me, and perhaps a dream will be born because of my presence. "

" I want to be uncomfortable - acting is uncomfortable. "

" My mother talked about the stories I used to spin as a child of three, before I started school. I would tell this story about what school I went to and what uniform I wore and who I talked to at lunchtime and what I ate, and my mother was like, 'This girl does not even go to school.' "

" I have a very ostrich mentality. I feel like I have my head in the sand so no one can see me. "

" I'm still trying to get over the fact that my name is being mentioned with people like Brad Pitt. "

" In the madness, you have to find calm. "

" I am thrilled beyond words that The Academy has recognized my performance in Steve McQueen's '12 Years a Slave,' and I am deeply proud to be in the company of my fellow nominees. "

" What's becoming very obvious to me is that fashion is art. "

" My father used to act in high school. He was in a production of 'Othello;' I don't know who he played, but it wasn't Othello. He would talk about it, though, and read Shakespeare to me. "

" Human beings have an instinct for freedom. "

" What colonialism does is cause an identity crisis about one's own culture. "

" Before the advent of the white man, black people were doing all kinds of things with their hair. The rejection of kinks and curls did come with the white man. "

" Dreams are the foundation of Hollywood. And dreams are the foundation of America. "

" I grew up in a world where the majority of people were black, so that wasn't the defining quality of anyone. When you're describing someone, you don't start out with 'he's black, he's white.' "

" I don't need to be so full of myself that I feel I am without flaw. I can feel beautiful and imperfect at the same time. I have a healthy relationship with my aesthetic insecurities. "

" There's always a sense of newness with acting, because every role, you come to every role fresh. "

" My parents gave me a Mexican name. In our culture, we are named after the events of the day. "

" The beauty standards had nothing to do with me in Mexico. It was such a bizarre, dire time for my hair. I was living in a small town where there was not any semblance of an African community. I'd have to take the bus to Mexico City to find a woman who could braid my hair. That was two and a half hours away. "

" I value not being good at things, because children are not good at things. "

" 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. "

" Clay can be dirt in the wrong hands, but clay can be art in the right hands. "

" I definitely intend to create my own work in the future so that we don't have to keep saying, We don't have work for black women.' "

" 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. There was very little Kenyan material, because we had an autocratic ruler who stifled our creative expression. "

" I always love to learn new things. That's the reason I like being an actor. "

" As human beings, what makes us able to empathize with people is a connection that is not necessarily understood mentally. "