I want to do good, and I want people to be happy, and sometimes when youre a people pleaser, you spread yourself too thin.

I was working in customer service and had a verbally abusive boss. One day, I decided to quit and pursue my acting passion with everything I had. One week after quitting, I booked One Life to Live.

On a personal level, you wear different masks.

I love Motown, that whole era. Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson. I just put on Pandora, and put it on Motown, and it makes me smile; makes me smile so much.

I'm an actress, model, and singer.

Plow through the weeds. Go to the auditions and go to the meetings and be on time. Stop looking to the left or the right. Keep your head down and keep moving.

[Director Richard Tanne] was inspired by their [Barack and Michelle Obama] flirtation, and their connection. That's not normal with politicians who are married - they usually look forced or awkward.

I think she [Michelle Obama] is reluctant to date someone she's above at work. It's 1989, she's at a law firm, surrounded by mostly white men, and she has to prove herself every day.

My mom was an opera singer, and she gave up her career to raise a family. But she also taught my sisters how to sing.

At Christmas, it's my siblings running around the house, we're cooking, talking, laughing, loud and just crazy. It's beautiful chaos.

In the end, the slow decay of the body didn't matter. We all continue on, renewing ourselves, through our offspring. They are what matter. They are what survives.

Plan your work - work your plan

Charity is a very labour-intensive virtue.

Power-over is amoral. Power-to is responsibility.

I try to go to the gym three times a week. And I have to watch what I eat. I'm a normal person.

When I am performing, I try to follow the advice I give to my students. This can be very hard - I was never a good student and I find I'm no better when I am the teacher.

There's something very refreshing about being on stage.

People are fond of using the its not what you know, its who you know adage as an excuse for inaction, as if all successful people are born with powerful friends. Nonsense.

Look, all you can do when you find your niche is go with it.

When I was ten, I wrote an essay on what I would be when I grew up and said I would be a professional soccer player and a comedian in off season.