I was rejected in school because I didn't look like the big-breasted, beautiful girls. I was awkward and sad. My mother always said, "Be original!" but I didn't understand until I changed to be like everyone else.

Nobody can make me cry in public. I'll punch them first before they make my mascara smear.

I was able to say to everyone, 'Would you be willing to take a role that you've cherished and worked on for a long time and change it to female?' And there was not any hesitation, which was a real win. That hopefully shows a shift in the climate for women in film, although we still have some climbing to do.

Why is it that when we get older, we get more fearful?

I will make myself sick on films, just because you want everything to be right. I can't sleep if something hasn't been done or is out of place.

Half of my family has a deep-rooted connection to the South and Louisiana, and for me, New Orleans is one of our most precious, historic communities: visually, emotionally, artistically.

I realize that once I stopped fighting the technical process of how to move my body, I made it choreography.