In high school ethics they went around and asked what everyone thought their classmates were qualified to do. For me, everyone said actress. But to me it was very much "if it happens, it happens."

The work that I have been doing on television has been important to me because I have had the opportunity to portray very strong, intelligent women. It has been such a privilege to depict a woman that is independent, unapologetic, and resilient on both shows.

You don't want to burn any bridges, but you also want to make sure you leave your character bridges wide open and you're never seen as one particular thing, or that's who you'll be, unfortunately, for the rest of your career.

I left home at 14 and I have friends who joined the navy and the army performing troops at 9. I know people [like that]. It's a very straightforward character.

Love for me is comfort. I feel most loved and most capable of giving love when I am around people or in places that make me comfortable.

For the first four years of my studying in the U.S., I couldn't go home for two reasons. One is I was afraid that if I left my student visa may not hold and I wouldn't be able to come back to continue. Second, there was this big outrage in China that I didn't know how to face the public.

As a dancer, I know couples that have stayed married but separated to dance on different continents. Dance in general, but ballet in particular, is such a finite career. You can't do it later in life, and it's something that I think a dancer has to have some selfishness to fulfill.