I wasn't even prepared to be an actress. I was 17 when I came out of high school, and suddenly became Miss World and then I became an actress.

I was obsessed with Tupac - like eat, sleep, breathe Tupac. During this obsessive love affair, I dressed the part.

There are so many incredible women on TV right now. Viola Davis, Kerry Washington, Ellen Pompeo. These are really incredible female leads that are on network TV. Hopefully, with what I do, and the generation of actors I'm working with, that'll make the lives of other girls coming in after me even better. I hope to aim for that.

I believe destiny and hard work go hand in hand.

I'm very practical as a person as well, and I think that's where I get confidence from. As impulsive and spontaneous as I am, I'm still very practical. I always have been. I work out my pros and cons, and then I make an informed decision on whether I should do something or not. I really believe if you're going to do something, you have to do it 100 percent; otherwise it's better not to do it.

Every movie that I do, I always try and better myself in the next one and try and find a part which is more challenging. It's a little vulnerable to do that, to always push the envelope. You position yourself for a lot more flack or a lot more critique because you're trying to do something different. Sometimes you're good at it and sometimes you're not, but it's a chance you have to take to make life exciting.

I don't think a lot of people in America understand what Indians are. And that's our fault, a little. We tend to forget our roots a bit. As kids we think, If I'm too Indian, I'll be put in a box, and people will think of me as different. They'll think I'm weird, because I eat Indian food or my name is difficult to pronounce.