One day I had to sit down with myself and decide that I loved myself no matter what my body looked like and what other people thought about my body. I got tired of hating myself.

They try to paint the picture that I was this downtrodden, ugly girl who was unpopular in school and in life, and then I got this role and now I’m awesome. But the truth is that I’ve been awesome, and then I got this role.

To pray to this God or that God or this religion and that religion or no religion at all, that's the reason why we built America. And that is still very much what we do in this country unless you're brown.

I can't quite say that I was raised Muslim, but I remember up until 5 or so I would pray, you know, with my dad. And it's actually a beautiful practice. It's giving of yourself to a higher power - no matter what you call that higher power. Living your life as close to what you think that higher power wants you to be is a really powerful thing.

I think people look at me and don't expect much. Even though, I expect a whole lot.

Being an actor is wonderful and it's a lot of fun, but eventually you look old and you can't fit this or that. It's important to have other skills, be able to do other things, and to really learn how this business works and what it thrives on.

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.