My mother's side is Italian; my father's side is Jewish. We're the kind of family where every Sunday night we have dinner with all 19 of my cousins.

Grief is a very scary thing, and there comes a point where it can really take you down.

I'd love to be able to play all different roles, whether it's Maureen in Rent or Maria in West Side Story. I would just love to be involved in this business forever.

I worked consistently on Broadway from when I was 8 years old through 'Spring Awakening,' which I left in 2008.

I was never pretty enough to be the pretty girl and I was never quirky enough to be the quirky girl. Boys didn't look at me in high school and think I was the pretty girl.

Sarfati. That's my real last name. I don't use it a lot because I got 'Lea So-fatty,' 'Lea So-farty' at school.

By showing that you don't have to lose yourself, maybe someone else will feel some sort of comfort.