Octavia Spencer

You have to get out of your comfort zone in order to grow. And as an actor, you don't become Meryl Streep by doing the same type of comedy. You get there by being challenged. And unfortunately, there's a lack of roles for women of color, so you actually have to be the engineer creating some of those roles.

I don't think there will ever be a time I don't write, and I hope there will never be a time I don't act.

There are so few roles out there. And even if it is a film that could be led by a black actress, how many times is that film going to get funded? Let's just be real. But it's not just black people. It's Asians, it's Hispanic people if you're not Salma Hayek. It's hard. It's hard to get films funded.

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.

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.

I like to read, even though it was really tough, because I could go anywhere in the world in a book, and I could have so many adventures in a book.

If you go through life, and you don't find the beauty in an unexpected place, then you really have a sad existence.

When we don't have all the details about our characters, we have to make it up to fill in all the details. So, for me, writing and acting go hand in hand.

I'm not an optimist. I'm a realist. And my reality is that we live in a multifaceted, multicultural world. And maybe once we stop labeling ourselves, then maybe everyone else will.

Angry or not. It's a human emotion. But you can't walk around being angry all the time. What a dull person you'd have to be!

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

I am not trying to conform to an unrealistic model of beauty. I am, however, being proactive in being the healthiest I can be.

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.