Jenifer Lewis

“You think you can go into all those auditions not knowing who you are? The work came after I found my sense of self - when I wasn't so manic and desperate.”

“I don't have any beauty shop memories. I remember the barber shop.”

“Pay attention to your friends; pay attention to that cousin that jumps up on the picnic table at the family reunion and goes a little too 'nutty,' you know what I mean? Pay attention to that...”

“My friends were dropping like flies, and the government wasn't doing anything. You don't watch an entire generation take water hoses and dogs on the front line during the '60s or watch anoth...”

“I wrote a show - just as a joke, actually - and called it 'Bipolar, Bath, & Beyond,' just to bring some humor to it. I wasn't saying to myself that I'll 'come out' with it - I didn't think t...”

“I had been a hurricane all my life. And that was, of course, because I was bipolar and did not know it. And I was - you know, the mania took control. When you're on stage and when you're per...”

“America has a relationship with Bobby and Whitney.”

“I'm a classically trained actress, and I have many levels and colors, and 'Ventura Boulevard' is where I am planning to stretch and grow.”

“You don't want to wait until something horrible happens to get help. Admit that something's not right. You might not know exactly what, but you still want to go get it checked out.”

“'Black-ish' is the cherry on the top of my career... When you come into your own, when you're in your skin, you're unstoppable, because you're living in the moment of life.”

“On September 11, 2015, only hours before my mother passed away, I learned that the man I planned to build a life with was a convicted felon and con artist whose criminal career spans more th...”

“But a true diva has dismissed that drama. A true diva's heart is open, and she's ready to play by her own rules - rules that are gentle and kind.”

“A diva is someone who pretends to know who she is and looks fabulous doing it.”

“I was gifted at birth with this talent, and I've tried to honor it all my life. And I did - through hell and storms and tsunamis and earthquakes. I've been through too much not to know that...”

“Forty-five million people hit that button for 'In These Streets.' When you find out you have that kind of popularity, you better use it. It's called responsibility.”

“I still go to a salon where a gal does my hair, and I don't know if it's because I'm a celebrity but by the time I leave there, we are eating chicken and talking and screaming.”

“You are a black goddess when you come out the salon.”

“I did 'Eubie!' on Broadway with the Hines brothers, 'Comin' Uptown' with Gregory Hines, and then 'Hairspray.'”

“I'm very humbled by the fact that I do have so much to say, and I just hope that my walk, my honesty, will make a difference for people and maybe motivate them.”

“I had not starred in an independent film and it's about a woman who owned a hair salon.”