My goal in life is to bring to the screen really believable depictions that make you think, "Damn, I have to look within myself."

Wanting an honest opinion about my art from someone whose opinion I respect makes me feel vulnerable. It's a great space to be in.

It will be difficult if people can't get past their prejudices; I don't mean Black and White; I mean people automatically assume because a film has a predominantly Black cast, that it is a particular quality of film.

I had a grandmother who would always encourage me to learn about theater and film.

I'd like to change the depictions of life, love, and adventure under what's known as the typical, overused backdrop of Hollywood.

Coming from a background as unique as mine, the first challenge is being able to identify chaos as chaos. For the first half of my life, I interpreted chaos as normal. Today, I am aware that I have triggers: a default way of thinking that is often not relative to the immediate moment. Therefore, in the midst of chaos, I have learned to relinquish all my premature cognitive commitments and become present.

Because I came into acting late, my references come from real life. That's my biggest inspiration. It's probably the reason I moved back to New York. I'm just a lot more inspired by real life than I am by depictions of real life.