Octavia spencer quotes

I want to see more women behind the scenes.

I want to see more women as producers.

There are moments where you stop living, if you stop changing, and if you stop seeking growth of some sort.

Christian Louboutin, I love you, but honey, please! But when you have this much weight, you've got to give us a little platform. Sorry! The shoes are stunning though. An ounce of pain, it's worth it.

The first time I saw E.T., the actual image of an alien, and he was so sweet-looking. I wanted him. I wanted E.T.

Only when you find the courage to say something to someone that might influence a change in your behavior, does that behavior change.

Our challenges make us unique, and how we deal with them makes us unique.

Everything happens when it's supposed to.

I really believe things happen as they're supposed to and in the time that they're supposed to.

I'm an Oscar nominee. I love saying that. Whatever happens, I'm going to sing that 'I'm an Oscar nominee' part.

Civil rights happened because youth got involved. The youth stood up and helped to break the pattern that their parents had got accustomed to living. The next generation has to take that stand for whatever it is, socially, that they are involved in.

You have to get out of your comfort zone in order to grow.

As we women know, there are so many other hurdles that we have to cross that I would love it if we could stop having the race conversation so that we can get women further on. You know, a female president now that we have an African American president. Maybe we can get an Asian female, a gay person?

The way to bring about change is to be proactive and active.

The things that scare you only make you better and stronger.

I can only be the best version of myself and understand that the only way that we as a people can heal is to understand that the next person's journey may not be your own, but it doesn't mean that you have to marginalize them in any way.

The fact that women are very young in obtaining their civil rights and African-Americans are young in obtaining their civil rights, I think it's about time that we extend that to all Americans, whether straight, gay, purple, green, black, brown.

Every character I get to play has some element of who I am, but there's no fun in playing yourself. At least, for me, there isn't.

What's not fair is having the responsibility of a supervisor but not the title or the pay.

There are enough negative images of Black women out there and I did not want to portray Dorothy Vaughn in any stereotype. I wanted to make sure that her integrity was preserved.

Because we all come from different circumstances, our life experiences really color how we view things.

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.

I don't think that moms, with all that's going on in our society today, would want to put their kids in front of something that will be disheartening rather than uplifting.

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

It's very seldom that we see the good of the South. There is a perception that Southerners are racists and everyone else in the nation is 'enlightened.' There is racism everywhere, and there is good everywhere.

You know, bigotry isn't relevant to just the South. It never was. But I'm very grateful that I don't know what it's like from experience.

As an actor, I've learned to become a detective. You have to figure out who that person is. If the character is a thief, you have to figure out what makes them a thief. Whatever the prevailing idiosyncrasy is, I have to find it in the script.

There is one thing about knowing history, and another in recreating it.

I'm an actor and I am looking for roles where I can continue to evolve, and things that are challenging. I gravitate to the roles, not necessarily television or film. It's just the fact that, for me, the most interesting roles have been in television.

I don't ever want to be the type of person to tell you what to think or what to believe. Whatever stage in your life that you are in, I want you to organically reach whatever conclusions that you possibly reach.

Even in my music, I am always searching for big, universal things - ways that you can sort of reach outside the norm of what you are doing.

It is important to learn as much as you can about the person and then throw it all away so that you're not in any way doing some sort of mimicry.

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

I have always been very family-oriented. I came from a dysfunctional, broken family growing up, and it's probably instilled in me the need and the want to have a strong family and a great foundation. So I think that is something that I naturally gravitate toward.

I hate to tell people what they should think 'cause I really have an aversion when people tell me what to think.

I just know that the one thing that we all have in common is challenges. No one lives a challenge free life.

Where I'm from, you learned about God before you learned to read and write. Our faith is what grounds us.

People who are overweight face discrimination. African-Americans face discrimination. Women face discrimination and sexism. So I don't have the luxury of not being tolerant of anyone.

I look for roles that resonate with me these days. While I love putting out just fabulous entertainment, I think now as artists, especially with so much uncertainty going on in the world, you want to be a part of things that offer or promote healing in some way and perhaps a little introspection once you leave.

The older you get, you always learn more. Sometimes it's a process of learning about yourself and what your journey is. Sometimes the process moves forward at a rapid pace in a short amount of time - or moves backwards. And you're like, "Man, I thought I had made so much progress, and now all of a sudden, I'm 10 steps further behind than when I started."

I don't have one role that I want to play. I guess... I want to be a producer. I want to be an activist. I want to be proactive in bringing about work for men, women, boys, girls, everybody who is good at what they do and deserve a shot at it.

You cannot live to please everyone else. You have to edify, educate and fulfill your own dreams and destiny, and hope that whatever your art is that you're putting out there, if it's received, great, I respect you for receiving it. If it's not received, great, I respect you for not.

I have experienced loss in my life, but the thing that brings you back is your faith.

As an actor, you don't become Meryl Streep by doing the same type of comedy. You get there by being challenged.

You can't be from Montgomery, Alabama, and not have a background in the church. It's at the core of who we are as a people.

I'm not trying to be a different weight. I want to be a different body type so that I'm not an apple. I just want to be a pear!

As you make your way along life's tumultuous highways, it's important to note that you should always carry a map, have plenty of fuel in the tank, and take frequent rest stops.

My job as an artist is to present the material. My job as a woman is to receive from it what I need.

I'm starstruck everyday. The day I'm not starstruck, I'll have to retire.

God in my mind gives you what you need. So, if you need God to be a black woman and you need that for whatever your reasons are, then perhaps your blessings will come in that form.

Any upward movement is movement for us all.

I was starstruck and sweat a lot when I met Oprah Winfrey and tried to hug her. Because when you think you know people when you see them from your couch.

I do believe that everyone has something to contribute.

I'm not a fan of 'Gone With the Wind.' I didn't like the movie. I didn't like the book.

You never write a speech in advance because if you don't get to use it, you'll be heartbroken.

Weight issues, race issues will always be there and if you allow them to get to you and you allow them to affect you then yes they affect you. But my thing is I have so many other things to worry about I can't worry about other people's perception of me.

I like a person who knows how to say something dark at a very dark moment. The darker the moment and the darker the comic, the better. Something that is so wrong on all levels.

We know longer live in a homogenous society, it is not black, white, Asian or Latin, it is a melting pot. Until we learn to assimilate and learn about other cultures, we will continue to have racism problems. Of course, there are other '-isms' as our ills. We have sexism, ageism, elitism, homophobia-ism, there are many -isms we have to overcome.

I was not a Girl Scout, but I try to be very prepared. I triple-Spanx!

I can only live in my truth.

To be silent is to be passive.

I just think that you have to believe in yourself and you have to work very hard. You can't ever think that you're the best thing since sliced bread because I promise you, there are going to be Viola Davises and Jessica Chastains and Emma Stones who are the best thing since sliced bread. So take it seriously, but don't take it too seriously.

I hope that in some way that I can be some sort of beacon of hope, especially because I am not the typical Hollywood beauty.

One thing I've learned is be comfortable in your skin, and more importantly, be comfortable in your shoes.

I do believe that we're all God's children.

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 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.

I don't think you learn as much about yourself when you are moving forwards as when you have fallen backwards. That's when you really learn who you are. And reach for the things that have propelled you forward and made you a better person.

I think if I weren't so squeamish, I would have been some sort of forensic analyst. And I can't do anything with a microscope, because then I start thinking about the world of germs around us.

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'll say that I don't think you can throw a stone and not come in contact with someone who knows someone or has problems with substance abuse.

I was always a closet lover of acting. My mom was very practical. She never, ever restricted our dreams, always told us we could do or be anything. Then I said, 'Maybe I want to be an actor.' And she said, 'Maybe not that.'

I'm attracted to things that make me want to be a better person.

You have to create your own path and I'm up to the challenge.

I think it's actually a misperception that I am a comedic actress. I do more drama than comedy but very little of it has been seen. When you are in big funny movies and they do well and your little part in it kind of explodes people perceive you as a comedian.

I want to find things that challenge me.

I'm probably the most militant person you'll ever meet and I speak my mind without provocation sometimes.

My faith is tested daily.

I gotta go home and feed my eels. They're not electric, but I have a plan.

The one thing that I realize - well, not the one thing, but it was a big thing - having in my head that I need to get healthier. It's been a very gradual process for me.

I can't speak for what other artists should do. I can only tell you how I live.

For me, when you have to prepare to play God, and then walking away from that, you realize just how tough God's job is. I don't want that job.

At 21, you can live life with reckless abandon, as reckless as your abandon is. Then, at 30, there's something there are the supposed to be's. You're like, "I'm supposed to be doing this. I'm supposed to be doing that." You start measuring your life by what you think you're supposed to be doing. Having recently turned 40, it's like, "What the hell?! Why am I worried about what I'm supposed to be doing? What do I want to do?" You become fine with wherever the road takes you.

Let's just say that I have a tendency if I am uncomfortable in a situation to speak my mind.

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 have an affinity for the law. I like looking at the small type on contracts, and if I could have afforded law school, I probably would have gone.

I prefer doing interviews where people don't have to interpret what you say. I'm going to be real honest.

I'm glad that I get to take my final walk as the princess of 2012. ...there's nothing wrong with winning an Oscar!

I didn't realize that diets don't work, and I did not want to diet. I didn't want to do anything that required dieting.