Chimere's not mine. That hurt 'cause I had attached myself to this guy, you know. This is my son. I'm looking at him, and I'm picturing I'm gonna be old, and he's gonna be - this is my son! It's not my son.
I'm very determined, honest, open and definitely very energetic. I expect a lot as a boss and I'm very demanding, but I ask that of myself too.
By middle school, I said to myself that it's time I begin to speak. I joined the choir, not because I wanted to. I forced myself.
People ask me to describe myself, but it's a very personal thing. You don't feel comfortable.
I used to go around looking as frumpy as possible because it was inconceivable you could be attractive as well as be smart. It wasn't until I started being myself, the way I like to turn out to meet people that I started to get any work.
Maybe I am an inspiration for some players. Some young players. But I don't like to speak about myself.
Really, I don't know what I'd do with myself if I retire. Wash dishes?
I've never read a book or attended a class on screenwriting. I'm not opposed to the idea, but I like what I've got going on naturally and want to protect that. The one question I will ask myself as I'm re-reading a script for the 60th time is, 'Am I entertained? Still?' If the answer is 'yes,' I'll assume other people will be, too.
I pride myself on leaving no stone unturned as far as being the most prepared that I can be.
I read, studied, and learned everything I could find about aviation. It was my greatest desire to become a pilot. I could already picture myself in the cockpit of an airliner or in a military fighter plane. I felt deep in my heart this was my thing!
If I ask my actors to bare themselves, to reveal themselves as almost naked, I have to bare myself, expose myself as well. That's what creates excitement.
First and foremost, I consider myself a songwriter.
I want for myself what I want for other women, absolute equality.
There was three or four years of my life where I hated myself and you know, would have quite happily ended it.
When I stopped seeing my mother through the eyes of a child, I saw the woman who helped me give birth to myself.
I used to pride myself on the fact that I kept a house running and never burdened anybody.
I am just pitifully nostalgic. I can't help but roll my eyes at myself frequently. I mean, I still shoot black-and-white film. And I am constantly reminiscing about the 'good old days.' I'm 28 years old. There haven't even been that many 'good old days.' But still, I love to look back.
If anything I consider myself non-violent, I'm from the hippy era, peace, love, groovy.
Pretty much everyday, there's a moment where I'm having to pinch myself and think, 'When did this happen to my life?'
For me, hip-hop was a mirror when young-adult books were not. I could see myself in a Nas song more than I could see myself in a book.
I think of myself as a fantasy writer.
I try to become more humble and more myself with every year. There was a while when I got famous where I was so confused and my head was spinning.
Once I got to be about twenty-five, I got interested in the music of the time. I started smokin' dope, I started drinking, I started slowing down and trying to find myself. I didn't want to work in nightclubs.
I try to sort of make myself emotional in the moment when I'm writing, and that always translates better. When I'm writing, I can't do abstract.
But for me, it was a code I myself had invented! Yet I could not read it.
Sure, I went through my 'J'accuse' phase. I was so angry for so long, I could hardly have a conversation without getting into an argument. And it was only when I felt I could finally distance myself from my past that I began to write about what happened - not just to me, but to lots of young people. I think my story is a cautionary tale.
There are people who are really good managers, people who can manage a big organization, and then there are people who are very analytic or focused on strategy. Those two types don't usually tend to be in the same person. I would put myself much more in the latter camp.
I learned to discipline myself to do things I didn't want to do.
I started trying to be a writer and failed for years. I tried novels, short stories, sitcoms, movies, plays, anything. And then, to support myself, I had millions of jobs on the fringes of show business.
I'm an all or nothing kind of girl. When I give my heart, I give myself totally.
I don't think I can call myself an actress yet. I just don't think my skill level is that high. I hope that with every job it gets better. But until I'm good, I can say I'm trying to be an actor, but I don't think I've completely made it.
I am a contradiction myself. I'm always looking for something that scares me because when I'm not scared, I'm not stimulated.
I'm becoming more indulgent and less giving as an actor as I get older. I'm immersing myself more in roles emotionally.
In my twenties, I thought I was Robert De Niro and I invested all of myself in my acting. But, as I've got older, I've calmed down a bit. I've thrown my game plan out of the window.
I was in such a hurry to be an actor. Now I'm sometimes mad at myself that I didn't stop and study for a couple of years.
The outcome, the fourth in an issue of five boys born into a staunch Baptist home, meant that from the beginning I was taught to be respectful of others no less than myself, influencing ever since both my political and administrative attitudes.
