I had this vivid image of myself at the age of 60 looking back on my life and truly regretting the fact that I hadn't tried to be an actor

Whoopi Goldberg looked like me, she had hair like mine, she was dark like me. I'd been starved for images of myself. I'd grown up watching a lot of American TV.

I would love to have a career that's governed by the material; I always want to be part of stories that I feel are worthwhile.

[My mother] always said I was beautiful and I finally believed her at some point.

As human beings, what makes us able to empathize with people is a connection that is not necessarily understood mentally.

Even in my dreams of being an actor, my dream was not in the celebrity. My dream was in the work that I wanted to do.

Every time I overcome an obstacle, it feels like success. Sometimes the biggest ones are in our head - the saboteurs that tell us we can't.