Acting-wise, I love Helena Bonham Carter. I love Kate Winslet. I love Angelina Jolie when she was 'Girl, Interrupted' Angelina Jolie. There isn't anybody that I can definitely point to and be like her. Because I've never felt like I've been able to relate to the women that are famous.
— Jessica Williams
We're all trying to catch up with Beyonce. We're all running a race, and Beyonce is up there, and we're all just trying to run and get there. That's my motivation.
When you see the way some people write women, especially in studio movies, it's like, 'Sorry! Sorry for being alive!' Women are so apologetic.
I'm not walking around feeling black all the time. That would stress me out. It would make me crack.
The Kardashians are walking clickbait - but let's look closer. Do Kim and Kanye affect how society feels about interracial relationships and blended families?
I don't know how to cook. I work a lot. So, for me, then, it's important to find a man who can cook. Who will make the house a home more than I can.
I think women can tell the most profound and interesting and fascinating stories.
The popularity of '2 Dope Queens' just showed there was like a hunger for new stories because we have alternative comics on our show that wouldn't normally be featured on, like, a white guy's comedy show.
A lot of the time, black people, we don't introduce ourselves as black.
As I got older, I had to learn to not have people speak for me. It was the first time I recognized, 'Oh, sometimes people are going to condescend to me because I'm a woman, or sometimes people aren't going to give me opportunities because of the way I look.'
I think when you're a tall girl, you feel a little bit like an outcast. You have to go to the back of the photo. You're taller than all the boys. I know I felt more like an outsider. And then as I got older, I just got used to it. I got like, 'I don't date under 6 feet.' That's my policy.
The world is ready for a more sophisticated 'TMZ.' If there's one thing I've learned, it's that any dummy with a half-decent idea can become a billionaire.
I really like when different stories are represented, it's not just the same kind of person, and when there's humor in it, and there's relationships.
When I wake up in night sweats, that's what I'm thinking about: what if someone grabs me from my past and says, 'I heard you drag me to filth on your podcast.'
I wanted to do screenwriting. That's what I went to school for, but my major was overfilled, and when I got 'The Daily Show', I was a semester away from officially starting my major, so I never started that in particular.
'The Daily Show' was amazing because I learned so much.
I started 'The Daily Show' when I was 22. I was going to class at Long Beach.
I can be pretty harsh and judgmental. I'm a very harsh and judgmental person. I like morals, right and wrong. I like to see things in black-and-white when I can, so I will hold a lot of guys to an impossible standard.
I love it when women are like, 'You guys sound like me and my best friend!'
I don't really do stand-up.
There is more of a demand, especially on the Internet and on Tumblr and Twitter, from women who are like, 'We want to see more of us on TV!'.
There's something missing in all this new new media craziness, and that is something that uses celebrity news as a way to get into a really serious analysis of our culture.
I don't think I'll ever be a housewife.
I feel like, all things aside, it's a really great time to be a woman. And I don't want to hear stories from, like, white dudes anymore. Like, not really. I want to hear stories from women.
I used to think men were these idiots who just yelled at you on the street. But, part of my maturing was realizing that not all men are evil or monsters.
The stories I want to tell are when we're our own heroes and our own enemies, and I don't think that's a rude thing to ask for. I don't think that's something I should apologize for.
I think there's something to the millennial sentiment of being, like, 'I'm great.' But I think there's also something really amazing and powerful about being, like, 'Oh, hey, I'm awesome.' It's a fine line. But I think it's possible to be both, to not be the most annoying person in the world, to still be very intriguing and fun to watch.
Race affects everything that I do, and everything that I create speaks to intersectionality.
I check Facebook to see how everybody from high school's doing. I go on Reddit to see what my weirdos are talking about. Then I go on Tumblr to see what my feminists are talking about.
I feel like now is great time for a rom-com because the genre is sort of being opened up to being told by people that look different from each other or who have different orientations.
It's a really nice way to cut your teeth, doing live shows. It's like going to the gym because you do have to think fast. You are constantly under the threat of people not laughing. Instead of getting hit, people could just not laugh, so you really are trying to mine quickly for the funniest thing you could say in that moment.
I think we can topple the patriarchy by using our voices to speak out against things that aren't right and that we don't agree with. I think for people who are not people of color or members of the LGBT community, it is being an ally and being an advocate in spaces that people of color or members of the LGBT community can't really get into.
Post-'Daily Show' has been so busy, which I've been surprised about. We're basically independent contractors in a way. So you have one gig, and you're worried about never getting another gig again, or at least I do.
I'm a tomboy, but I really love doing my makeup - I find it relaxing and grounding. With 'The Daily Show,' it was easier for me to do my own makeup. In the beginning, I watched a lot of YouTube tutorials. You find a beauty blogger who has your skin tone, and pretty much everything they use will look good on you.
I'm a middle child, so I have middle-child syndrome. With a middle child, you always have to take in everything and adjust and maybe compromise a little bit so you're able to see both sides of an issue. I'm also a Leo - I love astrology - so that affected me, just being a lion.
I wasn't prepared to be so... arrested by Jon Hamm.
'Sex and the City' didn't change the show because it was an international sensation. They kept it in New York.
Some of the best comedies now are led by women who are very involved: 'Parks and Recreation.' 'Veep's' incredible. I love 'Girls.'
I looked up at my mom, and I was like, 'Well, Mom, uh, when you really think about it, C's aren't really that bad. C's are average.' And I've never seen my mom so upset, to this day. I just saw this flash of fire in her eyes, and she yelled, 'Average? You are never allowed to be average, because you look like me.'
I look for a man who respects my womanhood and doesn't make me feel like I have to be a stereotype. Like a housewife.
There are a lot of podcasters that are females of color. And I think that we should be allowed to tell a very specific kind of story. And if you don't like it, you don't like it. But if you do, enjoy the tea! Sip that tea.
I live in Brooklyn, and there's so many interracial couples in Brooklyn. In Brooklyn, you don't talk about race like that.
There's a really positive side of being an introvert - you really pick up on things a lot more than your extroverted counterparts.
Height has been very, very central to the development of my personality.
Thankfully, I already have a mogul I can pattern myself after: Oprah. We're a lot alike. I'm black, I love to relate things people talk about to myself, and people think my best friend and I are lesbians! My strength is that I'm more relatable.
Every day when I wake up, I check Instagram.
I love relationships; they fascinate me.
There's such an adrenaline rush for me on stage and having all these people look at you. There's an adrenaline rush from not having things written down, too.
'The Daily Show' was like my family. We had dogs in the office every day, all day. It was just such a warm, beautiful, sweet experience for me. Choosing to leave the show was so hard because I really, really loved everybody there, and I loved what it gave me and the platform it gave me.
I thought I was going to be hired as a contributor, but 'The Daily Show' was like, 'Nah, it's an election year, we want you to come over here and work full-time.'
