I think heroism comes in different packages. The superhero package is one that we're familiar with.

I think we need that to ground us as human beings. I would imagine after an extended amount of time, a vampire might stall a little bit.

As the years have gone on and you start to know your character better than some of the writers and directors do, you get a little bit more of a world in which you can say, "I think it would be really great, if this year, her fate wasn't determined by the boys," or that kind of thing. You have to pick your battles and make sure that you've earned the right to talk about that.

I was shy and a hard worker, so acting was a way to focus whatever nervous energy I was experiencing onto a goal.

You can't aspire to have heightened senses, whereas you can aspire to tell the truth, every single second, and you can aspire to be dogged and just never let anything be enough, never give in, and never give up.

I think what matures us is time, not necessarily our physical bodies. So I think she can probably change as much as human would in the timespan of the show. However, I do think as a human you reach a point where there's a certain amount of humility and acceptance of life and its consequences when you see your own body change and age, and the pounds come or the wrinkles come.

As an actor, you never really set out to be a stand-out character. You just want to do justice to the story and enjoy playing it, and find all the different nooks and crannies of who someone is. For each part that you get, they're all special and you just try to give everything you can to each one. I don't know whether they're going to be stand out in that way or not factors into my work. They all stand out for me.