My mom [has] always been my hero. Watching her experience something like breast cancer was pivotal, I think in my whole family's life and experience. She is one strong lady.

I was mostly into comedies, growing up. That still will always be my favorite thing.

In some ways, comedy and something like a musical do go hand-in-hand.

I had massive anxiety as a child. I was in therapy. From 8 to 10, I was borderline agora-phobic. I could not leave my mom's side. There was a lot of fear, but it was also very exciting.

You can always veer off the path, that's one thing that has really comforted me over the past year. When you think, 'I can't do something because of this, this and this,' you can actually do anything you want. I could go ballistic right now and tear this whole room apart. I could. I'm not going to, because logic is stopping me, but you can do whatever you want. You really can veer off any path at any time - never give up.

There's this Ryan Gosling quote that I steal all the time - I watched an interview with him in Cannes - and he said picking roles is like listening to songs on the radio: There can be a lot of really great songs in a row, but then one comes on that just makes you want to dance.

When I did TV, I only did little guest parts, and it hasn't been that long. There is a kind of pressure in this job that comes from your work every day being there forever. But this is all part of the brand-new world that I'm discovering.