I can be really silly, but I never get to do that. I'm always playing on-the-nose characters, professionals - lawyers, a serious news anchor, people with a really focused energy, which can become a cliched type. Nicole Ari Parker More Quotes by Nicole Ari Parker More Quotes From Nicole Ari Parker A guy once told me that I sound like I’m a little ahead of myself. I can’t wait to thank him at the Oscars. Nicole Ari Parker guy waiting sound Not just as a black woman, but as a woman, since the beginning of time, beauty has been our responsibility. Nicole Ari Parker black-women black responsibility We're all moving at such a high rate that we have to grab frozen dinners and McDonald's. We can't make it a way of life - we have to get back to real, simple, clean good foods. It will save our lives on so many levels; not just spina bifida, but obesity, diabetes, everything. Food is our medicine. Nicole Ari Parker real simple moving Nobody can tell you how to be a good wife or husband. Nicole Ari Parker good-wife wife husband One good step breeds another one. Nicole Ari Parker steps If you had to work 14 hour days, Mondays to Fridays, then you have to keep Saturdays and Sundays sacred. Nicole Ari Parker friday sunday monday I have friends struggling with autism, juvenile diabetes. Nicole Ari Parker juvenile autism struggle All kids want from their dad is for them to be around - and to show up when they say they're going to show up. Nicole Ari Parker dad want kids Any actor will tell you that you go where the work is, especially when you have children. Nicole Ari Parker actors children Being a pedestrian again is very exciting because in L.A. you live in your car, and you're on a freeway all the time. Nicole Ari Parker pedestrians car exciting I believe that we have to be so race-conscious in this day and age. Nicole Ari Parker race age believe You think you need the newest shoe and the newest outfit. We forget exercising is free. We forget it only takes a little bit every day. Nicole Ari Parker shoes exercise thinking I think 'Soul Food' had the biggest impact on me because that's where I was really able to shine as an actress and because I also met my husband there, and that was a huge turning point in my personal life. So, that show will stick with me forever and ever and ever. Nicole Ari Parker impact husband thinking I'm kind of floating out there as an artist. I'm in a safe place where I can play a girlfriend or a best friend or a mommy or a lawyer, but a huge part of me is unused. I'm classically trained, historically inclined and somewhat revolutionary by nature, so I'm frustrated as an artist. Nicole Ari Parker girlfriend artist play Once there are more African Americans and Asian Americans behind the scenes as producers, writers, and directors, I think more inclusive casting will happen. Nicole Ari Parker african-american directors thinking When you set a play in the French Quarter in New Orleans, it's hard not to acknowledge the whole African-American, French, white mixing of races. That's what the French Quarter is: it's a Creole community. Nicole Ari Parker new-orleans race play You shouldn't marry unless the both of you are on the same page on a lot of things. Life is going to deal you blows, and you have to be together. Your values and priorities have to be on the same page; otherwise, it won't work. Nicole Ari Parker priorities blow together Hair is an issue for most women, and after washing, blow-drying, flat-ironing, curling, braiding, twisting and spending the time and money on it, who wants to mess it up by sweating and having to do it all over again? Nicole Ari Parker issues blow hair Every parent knows this moment in a child's age when he or she needs your attention in a very specific way because it's the beginning and ending of the early life of imagination. It's such a responsibility. Nicole Ari Parker imagination responsibility children My humor is a lot like Kristen Wiig's from 'Saturday Night Live' or 'Bridesmaids.' Quirky, off the beaten path. Nicole Ari Parker off-the-beaten-path quirky night