I Never Thought I Was Pretty. I

I Tell Young Actresses Today Who Are Looking To Get Into Films, "first Of All, You Are Marginalized By The Color Of Your Skin." I Tell Actresses, "if You're Too Tall, If You're Too Fat, You're Not Going To Work. I Don't Care How Talented You Are." It's A Business, And Sex Sells. Sex, Action, Special Effects, And Violence Sell. Yes, You Can Have Art Films About The Triumph Of The Human Spirit And All Of That, But You'll Have It Done With A Big-budget Icon With A $20 Million Salary.

Everyone Else Can Do Violence. You Know, Clint Eastwood, Sylvester Stallone, They Can All Do Shoot-'em-ups. Arnold Schwarzenegger Can Kill 10 People In One Minute, And They Don't Call It "white Exploitation." They Win Awards And Get Into All The Magazines. But If Black People Do It, Suddenly It's Different Than If A White Person Does It. People Respond Differently Because People Come From Different Places.

Coming From The '50s, Things Were Very Violent. We Were Still Being Lynched. If I Drove Down Through The South With My Mother, I Might Not Make It Through One State Without Being Bullied Or Harassed. I Feel Like Unless You've Been Black For A Week, You Don't Know.

You Never Know How People Are Going To Respond.

I Consider Myself Conscious Of How We're Treated, And Sometimes I Can Be A Feminist.