I live my life because I dare. I dare to show up when everyone else might hide their faces and hide their bodies in shame.

I would like to continue acting. I tell people I can't go back to real life. I have to see how far I can go with it. I am serious about it, and I believe that it's my calling. I think it's what my life's path is. It's what God has given me. It's what I was born to do. And so I must do it.

When it's time to film and to actually take on the role of Precious, I felt an immense responsibility to do it justice.

I've always wanted a normal life, and this is what I got. Being an actress wasn't a plan at all, so what's happened to me is very strange. Life isn't very normal, even though I'm still very much a normal girl. I ride the subway, I ride the bus, and all of that. It's the people around me that have changed. I love when I go to a restaurant and I walk past, and everyone waves. That's always really funny. It's strange. It just goes to show that whatever plan you have for your life, you are wrong, a lot of times.

I live my life because I dare. I dare to show up when everyone else might hide their faces and hide their bodies in shame.

I really want people to know that I am a normal girl. I'm not a superhero now. I'm not some sort of celebrity that doesn't have feelings. I'm very, very normal.

Being an actress wasn't a plan at all, so what's happened to me is very strange. Life isn't very normal, even though I'm still very much a normal girl. I ride the subway, I ride the bus, and all of that.