[from a 2005 Glamour Magazine interview with Rashida and Kidada Jones] Finally I was leaving for college, for Harvard. Daddy would have died if I turned Harvard down. Harvard was supposed to be the most enlightened place in America, but that's where I encountered something I'd never found in L.A.: segregation. The way the clubs and the social life were set up, I had to choose one thing to be: black or white. I chose black. I went to black frat parties and joined the Black Student Association, a political and social group. I protested the heinous book The Bell Curve [which claims that a key determinant of intelligence is inherited], holding a sign and chanting. But at other protests-on issues I didn't agree with- wondered: Am I doing this because I'm afraid the black students are going to hate me if I don't? As a black person at Harvard, the lighter you were, the blacker you had to act. I tried hard to be accepted by the girls who were the gatekeepers to Harvard's black community. One day I joined them as usual at their cafeteria table. I said, "Hey!"-real friendly. Silence. I remember chewing my food in that dead, ominous silence. Finally, one girl spoke. She accused me of hitting on one of their boyfriends over the weekend. It was untrue, but I think what was really eating her was that she thought I was trying to take away a smart, good-looking black man-and being light-skinned, I wasn't "allowed" to do that. I was hurt, angry. I called Kidada in New York crying. She said, "Tell her what you feel!" So I called the girl and...I really ripped her a new one. But after that, I felt insidious intimidation from that group. The next year there was a black guy I really liked, but I didn't have the courage to pursue him. Sometimes I think of him and how different my life might be if I hadn't been so chicken. The experience was shattering. Confused and identity-less, I spent sophomore year crying at night and sleeping all day. Mom said, "Do you want to come home?" I said, "No." Toughing it out when you don't fit in: That was the strength my sister gave me. Show less «

[from a 2005 Glamour Magazine interview with Rashida and Kidada Jones] When I audition for white roles, I'm told I'm "too exotic." When I go up for black roles, I'm told I'm "too light." I've lost a lot of jobs, looking the way I do. Show less «

(2011, on Michael Jackson) Michael basically grew up with us, so I have a million memories of him. We were at each other's house all the time. He was definitely a little bit of an alien, for sure, and when I was young, it felt as if he was my age, not 18 years older, but with just a little bit more pep. Later, we'd go out on the town together. He always wore those surgical masks. Once, my sister, Michael, ­Emmanuel Lewis and I got in a car with Super Soakers and went by a movie theater and supersoaked the hell out of people waiting in line. They had no idea they'd just been supersoaked by the King of Pop. Show less «

Be friendly to everybody; protect yourself; people sometimes want a piece of you for no good reason; and always do things out of love not fear. Show less «

[on her Jewish faith] I do not keep kosher. I grew up reformed. I never had my bat mitzvah, but I still practice and go to synagogue on high holidays. Show less «

(2011, on having famous parents) Look, I have parents who have accomplished so much. I have a father who came from nothing and conquered the world. The last thing I'm going to do is sit here and spend his money and try to look pretty. That's not interesting to me at all. I've been acting professionally for 15 years, and I've had to prove myself. Someone may think, Oh, everything was handed to her, but it doesn't really work that way. Show less «

It's a two-way street. Hollywood, yes, I would say there is some feeding of some, as my character says in the movie ["Celeste and Jesse Forever"], 'pretty garbage-y stuff,' but we're also eating the garbage. So people have to show that there's a mature, complex moviegoing audience that wants to see - we have to see, we have to demand the better stuff.I'm not against an action movie, I'm not against a big-budget movie, but the ones that I like are the ones where it's obvious where they took the time to develop characters, develop jokes, develop storylines. Like, don't waste my time and don't insult me, is how I feel. Show less «

(2011) In high school I never drank, I never smoked, I never smoked weed. I was president of the varsity club and was on the math team and then student government. I was in every activity. I saved all the bad stuff for college. Show less «