“As an artist, you’ve got to see the mess. That’s what we do. We get a human being, and it’s like putting together a puzzle. And the puzzle has got to be a mixture, a multifaceted mixture of human emotions, and not all of it is going to be pretty.”

I think that I’m coming off as the biggest alcoholic in the world.

At the end of the day, nobody can tell you how to tackle failure or how to handle change. The world is very good at encouraging you to go along with the status quo and at basking in your successes.

People are just not impressed by me at home.

I’m a sitting duck. No, seriously, I mean I wish I could say more, but I’m a sitting duck because I can’t get ahead of them [cyber experts]. They’re far ahead of me. That’s what I learned: how vulnerable we are. It’s a big, silent monster out there. That’s what it feels like.

I would love to star in a remake of Thelma and Louise. Yep, that’s the one I’d be interested in redoing.

When you see what the deficit is, then you have to do something about it.

I want my work to reflect my level of gifts and talent.

I think sometimes you have to see a physical manifestation of your dream. Otherwise you have to hope, pray and try to conjure something in your mind to feel like it’s possible.

You can’t be hesitant about who you are.

I’ve been to acting school and I think that at the end of the day, when you just focus on the work and you’re comfortable with who you are, that at some point someone’s going to recognize your talent and give you an opportunity.

It’s time for people to see us, people of colour, for what we really are: complicated.

All you really need to do is shift people just a tiny bit for change to happen. It doesn’t have to be huge and humongous.

Womanhood is you. Womanhood is everything that’s inside of you.

One of the people I’ve always wanted to emulate in pursuing that dream was Meryl Streep, in terms of the different types of roles she’s been able to play and the number of different stories she’s been able to tell.

I would love to be remembered as a person who used her life to inspire others in any way, shape or form.

In my mind, I see a line. And over that line, I see green fields and lovely flowers and beautiful, white women with their arms stretched out to me over that line, but I can’t seem to get there now. I can’t seem to get over that line.

Despite the opposition, trials, and temptations, you need not fail or fear.

You don’t have to have all this film stock, you can work faster, and you don’t need a giant crew. It’s great.

You can’t listen to the news. You have to go with the facts. You need to use a logical approach and have the discipline to apply it. You must be able to control your emotions.

Computer science needs to be part of the core curriculum – like algebra, biology, physics, or chemistry. We need all schools to teach it, not just 10%.

I don’t keep any close friends. I don’t keep any secrets. I don’t need friends. I just tell everybody everything, that’s all.

What you need to know about me is that I always just wanted to be a country singer. I didn’t choose the path of television or being on magazine covers.

I have come to the conclusion that Tony Blair has finally gone mad … he made assertions that are so jaw-droppingly and breathtakingly at variance with reality that he surely needs professional psychiatric help.

Africa is a continent in flames. And deep down, if we really accepted that Africans were equal to us, we would all do more to put the fire out. We’re standing around with watering cans, when what we really need is the fire brigade.