When I was in England doing Romeo and Juliet as a child star, I was interviewed by the British press, who are even more vicious and cruel than the Americans. So I have been extremely guarded ever since.
After drama school I did a seven-month tour of Europe performing in 'Romeo and Juliet.' I played Romeo.
If I had seen a black woman play Juliet as a little girl, my idea of my place in the world would have been totally different.
One of my favourite pieces is 'Antony and Cleopatra' - I'd love to be in that. Or an alternative version of 'Romeo & Juliet' where I get to play Mercutio, something like that.
Personally, I don't want to live with limitations. If there comes a time where I am dying to play Juliet or Macbeth, I want to make those avenues for myself.
So often in sitcoms, it's like, 'Oh, that husband of mine. He just screwed up again.' They just have to tolerate each other. It's not the most fun to play from my perspective. But by the same token, you can't be like, 'We're just like Romeo and Juliet, always in love.'
If you look at 'Gnomeo & Juliet,' the movie's message essentially says it doesn't matter if you're a 'red' or a 'blue': at the end of the day, parents should love their children and want what's best for them.
People often argue about this. Obviously one of the skills in performance is acting, and you can't expect every Romeo to really be in love with their Juliet!
When we were shooting for 'Jatt & Juliet 2,' the director, Anurag Singh did not tell us that this was going to be a sequel. The only brief given to us was that, 'go and have fun on the sets.'
Although I played a cop in 'Jatt & Juliet 2,' it was a comic role, so playing a serious cop with an important role in 'Udta Punjab' was a change.
