I feel like writing songs is cheating on acting. It's weird.

I'm young. You can't just sit there and be satisfied. People are like, "You've got all these number ones!" "Yeah...what else?" It all translates into money, and that's how people think of being successful, but my success, I feel like, is credit - credit for a good job. I haven't even gotten a Grammy, yet I've already decided I want an Emmy.

Acting makes me feel broke again, it makes me feel unaccomplished.

My music teacher was like, "Ester, you need to pay attention in class." I'm like, "No miss lady, 'cause I can sing." I didn't want anybody to change the way I sung. I learned by gospel CDs and by watching my momma sing; I didn't need this teacher to tell me. I wish I had, because then I would have learned how to play the damn piano or something. I would have a couple of more things under my belt if I wasn't so hard-headed.

I see what other people do and what songwriters don't. They don't get out and take care of themselves. Producers turn themselves into a massive brand. Songwriters tend to be under someone else's umbrella. If you're building your own legacy, it can't be under an umbrella.

I feel like writing songs is cheating on acting. It's weird.

I like interior decorating. I really like to build houses. And landscaping, I like that.