I don't want you to look at my skin and think "white" or look at my heritage and think "Mexican." I want you to look at me and see me as a human being, and hopefully, we can get past all of this other stuff. It's asking a lot, of course, but there's only one way you fight extremists on both sides, whether it be racist or not, and that's by looking past me, getting bigger than that, letting them not affect you, drawing from it and sticking together with the like-minded people you have around you.

Physically? If you've got really beautiful eyes, you have me in a trance right from the beginning. As far as personality, I'm attracted to really shy girls. Someone who knows who they are and is very genuine. That is just so sexy to me.

I've always believed that - it's stupid, but I always use this - the pressure makes the diamonds. I really do believe that. The more pressure I'm put under, the more, it seems, I thrive. The more you give me to do and the more you give me to accomplish, the more I can get done for you.

If someone is trying to stop you from enjoying your life by impeding on yours, and telling you that your life is not the right way, then by all means, I'm the first one to say, "Fight for your rights, fight for who you are and for what you believe in." But you better be the stronger person. Just be aware and attentive to everything that's happening in life and know that there are gonna be people that are going to stop you and going to enjoy stopping you from getting to your goals. But just continue to be strong and outwit them.

I grew up in a big ol' Latin family, so that's all the music we used to play - salsa music. We'd always dance and have fun. You know how families get down, man! We just had fun with it.

I think the beauty of the film industry is that if another person tries to become another person or act like another person or imitate another person, they don't really get too far. When that person starts to realize who they are and what they can bring to the table, they start to blossom and grow. With that, it's not so much me looking towards my predecessors who have paved the way in the industry - it's more getting inspired. I get little bits and pieces of what I can take from any and everybody.

The manipulation of what's actually portrayed in the media, through the legal system, is pretty shocking, actually. You can see how someone you would never know can make a public figure look like a bad guy or a good guy just from the little information they let you know. My advice is to research everything. Don't just hide behind your Facebook posts. Research everything.