I want to be back on Broadway one day. That's a dream of mine. There's nothing like live theater, and I think it's so important for me to be able to be on stage with an audience that responds.

From film to film, I realize my strengths and my weakness, and I realize how much better I get. I learn the lingo, I ask questions and I'm on set trying to figure out which shots they're going to use. For me, it's exploring the art. It's not just making a movie.

I feel the most vulnerable when I'm in love. When my heart is open, and when life is making me feel like I have to open up myself completely. Love has a tendency to do that.

Never compromise and sell yourself short. I've been in the music business, a girl group . . . I've been through so many different things in my career, and when you compromise and try to let go of who you are, you wind up being unhappy, and what is success without happiness. You have to have both, and that is important to me.

Remember to be yourself.

God is real. God is in me and in my life. I've been blessed, and he continues to bless me, and that is one thing that I will always know for sure.

I was excited to play Lil' Kim and I wanted to do the role justice. I worked really hard on that role, whether it was performing the rhymes, studying the dialect, her swagger and her stage performances. I wanted people to see my range and stretch my wings as an actress.