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I've been working every year since I started acting, and I got many awards before I won the Oscar for 'The Queen.'

It was surreal to think the Queen of England not only knew who I was but thought enough of what I do to give me an award.

Awards are not something that I measure my work by. I've been so fortunate and I've gotten to do such terrific things that it seems petty to look back and say, 'Oh, I should have gotten that prize.' I don't look at it that way.

Some people make a career out of doing one thing, but I wanted to diversify my body of work.

I always thought of my career as a body of work and not just about numbers.

After I won the Oscar, my salary doubled, my friends tripled, my children became more popular at school, my butcher made a pass at me, and my maid hit me up for a raise.

The accolades usually come when you're dead or too old to get a job.

Queen Latifah has been a huge part of my career. She has been a huge, huge part of my career since the very beginning.

I had to work to put myself through school, so I always worked in the heaviest industries I could find because that's who paid the best.

I had worked my whole life. Until I became a mother, that's the only way I measured my value.