I am the only consistent person in my life and so I better like myself, and I better love myself. And I really better know that I'm as beautiful as anyone else.

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'm not a big fan of doing what my mother wants me to do, like any daughter.

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.

Just relax. When I was younger, I made myself the victim of catastrophic thinking. Anything that went wrong was the end of the world. But as I've gotten older, I've learned to stop myself and say, 'Hey babe, calm down. Tomorrow there will be sun.'

People want to know everyone for a lot of different reasons. It doesn't have to be anything as big as an Oscar nomination. It could be a brand new job. People see their opportunity. And, when you're winning, everyone loves a winner.

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.