It's just about trying to find material where I'm doing more than just being a plot device. I want to actually get to do scenes that go to interesting places and are challenging to me.
I do want to direct, eventually. I don't know if it will be a short film or a music video or a feature, but I know that I want to at least try it and see.
We make conscious choices to do something a certain way.
I think for most actors, because we sort of have to tell ourselves this, we always say, 'Oh, it doesn't mean anything to win an Oscar!' It certainly isn't a goal that you want to set yourself up for, because then you're just setting yourself up for disaster. Because how many people actually win an Oscar?
I grew up in a big movie house, we watched movies all the time, so I had an awareness at a very young age that that was a job that you could have.
Particularly for women, I think more of us in the industry need to just do it. I think guys are more willing to put themselves out, that way, at least with the girls that I know. We say we want to direct, but then we don't actually do it.
I think my drive to work has gone up a bit since I've gotten older.
My first movie was a movie that had a bunch of people dying in it - the typical popcorn movie. That's where I got my start.
I feel like most horror films are made for teenagers about teenagers. I've done a couple of those horror films. There's nothing wrong with that but the older I get the more I starve for more adult material.
I've been performing since I came out of the womb. I've been dancing and singing since I was a toddler. Acting seemed like a natural progression from that.
To those of you looking at photos I took with my husband years ago in the privacy of our home, hope you feel great about yourselves.
I think a lot of fans immediately go, 'ugggh' when they hear that someone is doing a prequel or a remake, they sort of assume the worst sometimes.
I was always a performing arts kid in general - but I felt like my ultimate goal was to be an actress and be in films.
I want to be inspired by the characters that I play and excited by the projects that I do.
Some of those things come out and you don't know where they came from - somebody's leaking totally false information. They follow you for years and you have to be like, "I don't know anything about that."
I found my way into the indie world a bit late in my career, but it was something that I was really passionate about doing.
There are obviously people who want to be very niche, but I think for the most part everybody is trying to reach a larger audience.
It's surprising to a lot of people because ballerinas look so long, but it's more of a proportion thing. Their legs are long in proportion to their body but in reality they're very tiny.
I actually came to New York when I was 12 and did ballet school for a little while. I was being groomed to be professional, and a lot of the professors and teachers there were drawn to me and thought that I could become a professional ballerina.
You're literally sized up with measuring tape as a 13- or 14-year-old girl. I wanted to opt out of that experience.
In ballet, I felt that no matter how good I was, if I didn't have the right body type or if I didn't fit a certain mold there was nothing I could do.
When I was 10, my school did Romeo and Juliet. I was Juliet, and that was, like, the biggest deal ever. I was completely obsessed with the role.
I realized that the people weren't just characters but they were people and they were getting to do something that was so fun and I wanted to be a part of it.
There's actually a time when I got cast in something and it was announced that someone else was cast. I hadn't been told yet if I had the role and I had a breakdown because I really wanted it and it was announced on this website that this other girl had gotten it. I was so sad and called my agents and said, "You guys didn't tell me this other person got the role!" They were like, "No, they haven't decided yet." Then two hours later I got the call that said I had the role.
If you let too many cooks in the kitchen it could cloud your vision of what you want to do.
