It is very hard to separate one's self from a character. Sometimes the people closest to me have to be very understanding.

I know I'm only one human being and I'm only making one tiny contribution and it's nothing more than that.

After all, everybody has secrets and there are some things that nobody knows about you but only you, right?

You have to get the audience invested even if you're doing something that they think is dumb, it's kind of what these movies are all about.

There's a place in me that can really relate to being the underdog.

I know that I will never find my father in any other man who comes into my life, because it is a void in my life that can only be filled by him.

My whole life I've had the fear that I was going to be abandoned.

I don't see a white woman. I see a black woman, even though my mother is white. Knowing that has made my life easier, I think.

When I was a kid, my mother told me that if you could not be a good loser, then there's no way you could be a good winner.

I'm not sad at all about turning 40.

The man for me is the cherry on the pie. But I'm the pie and my pie is good all by itself. Even if I don't have a cherry.

I was black growing up in an all-white neighborhood so I felt like I just didn't fit in. Like I wasn't as good as everybody else or as smart, or whatever.

Anytime you put a movie out it's subject to such scrutiny and such criticism.

In the X-Men the women are so strong and sexy! We really kick some male butt!

It is very hard to separate one's self from a character. Sometimes the people closest to me have to be very understanding.

I spent a lot of time with a crown on my head.

The worst thing a man can ever do is kiss me on the first date.

Beauty is not just physical.

I wish all men were like dogs.

I think a smart person today realizes that you have to be part of the art films that are done just for the sake of the art.

I'm learning to accept the lack of privacy as the real downer in my profession.

If you really want to be competitive in today's market you have to be in movies that make money.

I'm done with men... I'm going to be alone. I have no luck with relationships. I don't think I'm made for marriage.

What's the worst that can happen? If it doesn't do well I can put on my big girl panties, deal with it and move on.

I think it's always best to be who you are.

I'd like to be able to use Storm's powers for good, like have it rain more in Southern California. We could do with it.

I don't know why, but I respond well to tortured characters.

And you also have to do movies that are about commerce because that's what is required of the industry today.

While being called beautiful is extremely flattering, I would much rather be noticed for my work as an actress.

The times may have changed, but the people are still the same. We're still looking for love, and that will always be our struggle as human beings.

I'm not afraid of portraying anything on-screen.

A person's self-esteem has nothing to do with how she looks.

Being a mother is probably the most important thing in my life right now.

Being biracial is sort of like being in a secret society. Most people I know of that mix have a real ability to be in a room with anyone, black or white.

Blackness is a state of mind, and I identify with the black community. Mainly, because I realized, early on, when I walk into a room, people see a black woman, they don't see a white woman. So out of that reason alone, I identify more with the black community.

By the time I left school, I had a lot of tenacity.

Career is important, but nothing really supersedes my roles as a mother.

Don't take yourself too seriously. Know when to laugh at yourself, and find a way to laugh at obstacles that inevitably present themselves.

Every story about me is so heavy and dramatic. That's not how I do life. But that's the impression people have, and that's what keeps getting reiterated. As if I'm still stuck in all the muck of the past. And I am so not.

Having a baby takes so much from you. It's the most glorious thing you'll ever do, but the aftermath is not so glorious!

I always had to diet. I'm diabetic, so it's a lifestyle for me anyway just to stay healthy and not end up in the hospital.

I always had to prove myself through my actions. Be a cheerleader. Be class president. Be the editor of the newspaper.

I am a hopeless romantic. And I won't stop till I get it right.

I archive a lot of my clothes and have them wrapped up and in boxes. I call them 'little tombs' and keep them in a storage space... I would never get rid of the dress I wore on the night I won my Oscar. When I die, someone can have it, but not a minute before!

I carried my Oscar to bed with me. My first and only three-way happened that night.

I do not love to work out, but if I stick to exercising every day and put the right things in my mouth, then my diabetes just stays in check.

I don't think I'm unlike a lot of people. I am just someone who is trying to find that mate, and I think it's a really hard thing to do.

I guess you could say I have bad taste in men. But I no longer feel the need to be someone's wife.

I like Doritos. I'm usually watching 'The Biggest Loser' eating Doritos.