There are the relationships you make. All of the friends I made in grad school are the closest ones that I have.

I still think that being thrown in a very competitive environment where you really have to see what you are made of - certainly when you come out of nowhere - was good for me.

NYU Film School was the way to learn about film, to be exposed to film, to go to repertory houses, to be exposed to New York and see films. I would go to the library and see one, two or three movies a day.

TV is all new to me because I came from features.

I'm really grateful to Ryan Murphy for so much because he's fearless. He's so confident. He has a very unusual and unique way of seeing the world sometimes, and he's somehow able to translate that into entertainment for the masses, at the right time in pop culture.

I just wanted to make movies, but I never though about, "How am I being perceived because of my culture or my skin?"

As a fine artist I was drawn to composition and technique. I would count the cuts.