Best 71 quotes of Octavia Spencer on MyQuotes

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.

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?

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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 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.

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 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.

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

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'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'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!

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

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

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

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

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.

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 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.

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.

I want to see more women behind the scenes.

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

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.

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

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

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.