My thing is that if you don't really connect to something or see that it's going to be something you're going to be proud of, I wouldn't do it.

I think even when I was little there was signs that I was an artist. I've always been an artist.

The directors were often really nice and I was well behaved, so I would just sit there in rehearsal. That allowed me to see the process - not just the result, the red carpet, all of the wonderful, fun things that happen afterwards - the nuts and bolts, the nitty-gritty, "Let's try to build this character from the page," tech rehearsals.

Personally, especially as a young black woman, I didn't think that Los Angeles was a place for me to start. There's a certain type that they go for or don't.

One day I'm not busy at all; the next day I have work for months - that's kind of the way it works!

I wanted to become an actor and I knew that if I was really going to do it, I needed the training. I was not one of those people that was like, "I got it." I was like, "No, I don't have it yet. I need work. I need help fixing myself."

Theater is a lot more interactive, more of a cohesive unit. With television, it can be a different director every episode.