I just wanted to see every single musical I could. The very first one I saw was 'Beauty and the Beast,' the only one I could get tickets for, and then 'Les Miserables' and then 'Chicago.

As early as second grade I remember feeling really different and isolated. I had the hugest crush on a boy, and my best friend had a crush on him, too. One day he said to me, 'I like your best friend more because she's paler and she has freckles.' And it was right then that I began to feel like, Oh wow, I'm different.

I mean, I grew up in the Valley. All my friends were white Jewish kids. So the Latino kids thought I was this white girl.

It's so reassuring to have a woman heroine who triumphs with more than just what she has on the outside who has more to offer the world than just a pretty picture.

Am I Latin? Am I American? What the hell am I? I love my culture and I'm very proud of my culture

I am trying to be guided by my passion.

I think Hispanic women are beautiful with their curves. I'm not sure who feels that way in Hollywood. I was never told to lose 50 pounds. If they think that they just don't bother with you. You just don't get the role and you never know why. That's still better than physically harming yourself and becoming unhealthy just to star in a movie.