Whitney Houston is my idol and my mentor and my dream forever, like she will always be my favorite artist, ever, on the planet. Like I don't think I'll ever feel that way about another artist.

I was just so honored to play the role of Cinderella and to just be the first African-American princess, that's just historic for me, that's such a mark in my life and my career and then the bonus of just working with my favorite person in the whole world, Whitney [Houston], like her voice just did something to my spirit.

I wrote my own verses. Anything I did, I wrote myself.

I love music. That's my first love. I'm actually going to start working on that full-time very soon, but I love acting as well. It satisfies a different part of who I am. I love to pretend, to imagine, try new things, work with different people, and just see how far I can go.

I think different struggles in life, not knowing how to deal with certain things that have happened in my life made me doubt myself. Painful moments in your life can cause you to go into a state of depression where you don't believe that you deserve anything good in your life. You forget what you were created for. But after a while I just got tired of feeling like that.

Just staying true to yourself and staying true to your passion. Following your gut.

The idea of kids helping other kids is such a great way to introduce children to being involved in charitable causes and volunteer work, setting them on the path to doing good for others throughout their lives.