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" I had moved back to Kenya after undergrad, and I went through this crisis of, 'What is my life going to be about?' "

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" 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. "

" There have been rumors and rumors and rumors about my love life. That's the one area that I really like to hold close to my heart. "

" One of the reasons why I went to the Yale School of Drama is because I felt that I was acting off of instinct, but sometimes that is not reliable. When you're not feeling it, what do you do? So, going to grad school was about getting the tools to just use my instrument to the best of my ability. "

" I love filmmaking, but I decided to go to drama school because I thought that when I'm 60 and looking back on my life, if acting hadn't been a part of it, I would hate myself. "

" Human beings have an instinct for freedom. "

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

" I grew up in the limelight and being the child of someone famous. So my relationship with fame is not bedazzled. "

" 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'm interested in generating work for myself. I have trouble with this waiting-for-the-phone-to-ring lifestyle, especially after drama school, which was so creatively fulfilling. "

" I discovered that joy is not the negation of pain, but rather acknowledging the presence of pain and feeling happiness in spite of it. "

" I definitely love fantasy and would want to be in a fantasy project. "

" We, as human beings, have the capacity for extreme cruelty. "

" I spent some time back in Mexico at 16 because my parents thought it would be prudent for me to learn Spanish, because I held a Mexican passport. "

" 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. "

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

" It's so funny, you go to acting school thinking you're going to learn how to be other people, but really it taught me how to be myself. Because it's in understanding yourself deeply that you can lend yourself to another person's circumstances and another person's experience. "

" All throughout filming '12 Years a Slave,' there was a focus like no other. Everyone took ownership of this film and gave their all. "

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

" There is something about acting that's mysterious and magical because there is only so much I can do to prepare, and then I have to just let go and breathe and believe that it will come through. "

" I don't ever want to be president - let's just get that out of the way. "

" The muscles you flex in theater are muscles that you really need. I must always find a way to get back there. It's irreplaceable. "

" 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.' "

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

" It's only when you risk failure that you discover things. When you play it safe, you're not expressing the utmost of your human experience. "

" I have the opportunity to learn about the fashion world, and I appreciate it as an art form... But I never want it to take over my acting. "

" 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. "

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

" Our business is complicated because intimacy is part and parcel of our profession; as actors, we are paid to do very intimate things in public. That's why someone can have the audacity to invite you to their home or hotel, and you show up. "

" 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. "