When you look cakey, or you have too much on, and you actually see the makeup, the makeup isn't doing its job. When you use the makeup in a way where the people aren't thinking about the makeup, and they're looking at you, that's what we want.

I'm lucky having parents that have been in show business for a while and they don't care about the shiny stuff so much. They raised me in that way - to stay grounded, not to chase the shiny pretty things. I stay in the moment, because when you do that the hype goes away.

My dad has totally taken my Cat Stevens T-shirt, but it's OK; I have his Black Flag one, and that's amazing.

When you're making an independent film and you care about it so much you do all the prep work beforehand.

Music has always helped me stay creative and grounded because I'm traveling and shooting and trying to understand other people. Music was something I could just sit in a room and make with my friends.

Fashion is fun, and fashion is a form of art and self-expression. And I think it should have a wink-wink nature to it. For me, it's about the way it makes you feel. If you want to feel sexy, you want to feel bright, you want to feel good. That's what people are attracted to - when they see you execute an emotion or an idea clearly and proudly.

I had talked to my agent a lot over the years about not being interested in stereotypical "black films" [because] I didn't like the way they were representing black people over and over and over again in the same way.