Danielle Brooks quotes:

In South Carolina, there's a lot of arts programs. So I was blessed enough to go to the Governor School For Arts & Humanities.

I like to play people who are underdogs and misfits. People who are not on a straight and narrow path. That's exciting for me.

In Greenville, we were blessed to have lots of youth arts programs. I changed middle schools to go to an arts middle school. Then, when high school came, I went to normal high school for a little while before auditioning for the Governor's School for Arts and Humanities.

I think theater and church are so relatable because it's traditional call-and-response in the way that an audience interacts with the actors.

My biggest thing is telling a truthful story, something that is rooted in something and is very honest. If I read a script and you want me to take off my top, and it doesn't serve a purpose, then I'm not going to do it.

Don't compare your career to anyone else's. It's tough when you're in a business that's competitive. I was having a difficult time with that in college. Now, I'm having to learn to be patient and be where I am.

There's 67 percent of women that are in this plus-size world that we live in. And that's over half of the women in the world. So why are we not dressing for [them]?

By no longer operating out of a place of fear. So if you see me on a carpet with my arms and legs out glistening, or my midriff exposed, it's a reminder to myself and the world that I know I'm beautiful.

I go by my own standards, and I will be the voice of the curves for the women that feel like they can't stand up for themselves.

It's crazy how your mind works because you can receive hundreds and thousands of all these love posts and all this good affirmation on Instagram or Twitter. And then that one person writes one thing that dims your light but that's the thing you can't let it dim your light, because what I've realized - it's really not your problem, it's theirs.

I don't have to accept what you think I should look like and I do not accept what you think I should look like.

I've always gotten like, "you're a queen"' or "yes motha." And "you're beautiful" and a lot of people are saying that because I am confident, and they are finding themselves to be more confident. Especially when you meet them in person.

I am really glad women are speaking out.

There are brands out there, plus-size brands, that all they want to do is sell their clothes and be done.