I've done a lot of odd jobs, including waitressing, which most actors have done. I was a busboy - girl - when I was younger and sold things at little fairs when I was younger. I mostly related the role to being a waitress and having to deal with customers. There are good people and some not-so-good people.

If you're having a bad day already and everybody is just asking you petty questions, it drives people to the edge, or something really small will have a really large effect.

In movies, you get to explore parts of yourself that in real life, people shy away from, like looking stupid or embarrassing yourself or getting too angry, anything inappropriate. As an actor, you walk into those moments.

I feel like I owe Juilliard everything... coming from Kentucky at age 17, having a school like that giving me a chance. And if you cant afford it, you can get a scholarship.

You're not going to learn how to do it until you do it.

It's through working with a lot of first-time directors that I realized that people learn on their feet. Everybody works on something for a different reason. Everybody has got something new to learn on these sets, and you don't have to know everything, the second you start.

When something's wrong, even though you're the one doing it, you shouldn't feel defensive about it. It's hard because you have to protect yourself as a person in your life, but you can't protect yourself as an actor. You have to just take criticism.