My goal is to stay in good health, and every day, I wake up and pray that I do.
I used to not walk out the door; I was so afraid. Everything from, 'You shouldn't be here,' down to, 'Girl, don't wear those pants.' I was so sad. I tried my best to not even look in a mirror!
To be honest, being a fat girl, when people are telling you you need to eat, it's the biggest thrill of your life.
I woke up one day and thought, 'Enough is enough with bullying myself.' The war is within you, and that's also where it's won. You just have to tackle your insecurities and then let them go.
We weren't wearing shoes on a full-time basis until prom.
No one can bully me better than me. I'm the first person to the party going, 'Don't worry - you don't have to cut me down, 'cause I'm already there.' I struggled with all those voices and gave them so much power, to the point where they took over my life.
The parts that I get to play are not based around the European beauty standards: They're more about character, and I love that.
I was successfully hiding from the world on Broadway for about 25 years.
What is so beautiful about a composer and a lyricist is that their job is to push a story along and not halt it.
I was never one of those actors who believed, 'I'm so gonna be an ingenue.' I already knew that wasn't gonna happen, and I decided not to torture myself with it.
No one was created to be alone.
I have a lot of cultures within me - I'm basically chop suey.
I wake up in the morning, and I look in a mirror, and I go, 'Is this really all I got? Is this all the universe has given me?'
I was causing trouble in high school, and in order to get me to stop and to pass, they put me into theater, and I ended up winning a Shakespeare competition. All I had to do was imitate people properly, and I ended up going to the finals when I was about 16.
Everyone makes mistakes, and we need to learn to forgive ourselves.
As you get older, whatever your struggles may be - how you sound, how you look, how you dress - you grow into yourself a little bit more. You end up realizing the world wants you and not a carbon copy of six other people.
If someone puts a character in front of me - no matter what it is, whether there has been a film or not - I want to be that character, not imitate it. There's a difference - a big difference.
'Miscast' is a family affair. It highlights so many different aspects of the industry in that one night, and it's a great evening.
My mother played guitar by ear, and all of us sang except my father, bless his heart.
My mother taught us all to bake. It literally calmed us down, and she was able to get rid of all her frustrations.
