Octavia Spencer

It was never easy being Cicely Tyson. And it will not be easy being Octavia or Viola Davis.

There are so many more women and men who deserve opportunities. People of color. Period.

I think that young women and little girls need to see that they don't have to be the damsel in distress. They don't have to not show their strength. They don't have to be whatever the stereotype is or the tropes that we go to in our minds.

I think the paradigm is shifting with regard to women and what we bring to the industry. I feel very blessed.

If a great role comes along, and you are too tall to play it, then I think the role is too small for your talents.

Your parents only want what's best for you. They know a career in the arts usually means living paycheck to paycheck; they just want you to know that you have other options!

I have to lead a very small life in terms of what people think 'Hollywood' is. It's a full life for me, but I'm not jetting across the world. But life is good.

I think diversity is something that should be celebrated because it's who we are as a world, and little kids need to be able to turn on the TV and see real-world representations of themselves. It's very important.

The thing about the South is we accept our history. We don't push it under the rug.

There is racism all over the United States. Most Southerners I know, we definitely find ourselves defending our heritage.

When my car broke down in L.A., nobody stopped. They just kept whizzing by.

What's so great about DreamWorks is that it's run by filmmakers who believe that if it's not broke, don't fix it.

The worst is when I know I'm going to have to cry in a scene.

Auditions make me nervous; any time I have to perform, I get stage fright.

I'm excited that I get to do what I love, and I'm benefiting through projects that speak to me.

I choose projects that resonate with me on some personal level and projects that I'm afraid to do. If I'm afraid to do them, then I usually say yes, because it means that I'm not ready to go there and deal with certain aspects of the script. And that means that I need to do it, because the things that scare you only make you better and stronger.

We all have hourglass figures; your sand just settles in different places.

We always think that we're going to be young forever, and now when I wake up, I need to stretch, and I need to have my glass of water and be cognizant of what I'm doing with my body.

Life is too short, and I need to eat. I am my meanest when I haven't had a meal.

There are fewer and fewer roles that I haven't done already, or archetypes that I haven't played, and to break out of that box, the most interesting stuff is television.

The most I like about cooking is eating what someone else has cooked.

The misperception about the South is that everybody is racist, and all black people are victims, that what was prevalent in the '60s is only relegated to the South.

The statement that I made and that I think I will continue to make is that racism and bigotry isn't just relegated to the Southern region; it permeates the history of our nation. It's not to say that we haven't made progress. Obviously we have with our first African American president, and I never thought that would happen in my lifetime.

There's so much bigotry that needs to be overcome.

I want to be proactive in bringing about change and enlightening people.

I'm definitely neurotic. I don't cross streets and stuff.

Yes, you want to do studio movies, but I also want to grow as an actor, and an actress like me is not going to get roles where you grow and evolve in a studio film. It's just not gonna happen.

Women drive box office.

People want to see more diversity. That's why you have the Kevin Hart making $17 million dollars on a holiday weekend.

People want to see something that isn't necessarily somebody walking around in a superhero costume.

Do I feel that white directors have to tell only white stories? No. Do I feel that black filmmakers should only tell stories about black people? No. If we say that, then that means Asian people cannot write about anybody but Asians. I don't think a woman should only write about women.

You just keep moving forward and doing what you do and hope that it resonates with people. And if it doesn't, you just keep moving on until you find a project that does.

There is so much art can do to enlighten people, no matter what their views might be. If art can't go there or doesn't elevate the social consciousness in some way, then we are in peril.

Every day that I live, I try to find the beauty in things.