I think it starts to feel really redundant when you start to do something the same way over and over again. I don't think it's good to become so dependent on a certain writing process.
For me, 'Room' is an opportunity to relive an aspect of my childhood that I hadn't put a ton of thought into.
Girls in this industry sabotage one another.
I remembered moving from Sacramento to Los Angeles with my mum when I was seven and my sister was three or four.
When I was seven, I had been very vocal about wanting to be an actor. And my mom decided that we would try it out for a couple weeks and come to L.A. from Sacramento.
I was born in Sacramento but moved to Los Angeles with my mom and my little sister when I was seven.
Through film, I realized that was a safe place for me to play. It was a safe place for me to express myself and explore these things that I was afraid to explore in my real life.
There's nothing I'd say that keeps me awake at night, but I think that - when you're working with a group of people that are so beyond talented - that, every day, you wake up going, 'All right, I gotta fight to stay at the same level as these people.' That's what makes it fun.
The same myths are told in every culture, and they might swap out details, but it's still the same story. It's the same story, but with a different face.
It can get really messy inside my head, and it's usually just because everybody can get really self-centered at some point. And so what usually keeps me from quitting is that my reasons for quitting are just lame. I wouldn't want anybody else to talk to myself the way that I talk to myself.
Now I find seriousness to be rather ridiculous.
More and more, my life is going in a direction that is not universal; there's only a very small group of people who understand.
There are so many opportunities to learn things online, like between Coursera and Khan Academy and Duolingo. There are these awesome websites that are kind of these little personal Aristotles. There are times when I'm preparing for a role of some kind, and then I'll focus on a certain subject.
I love discussing social issues, but I'm not interested in scare tactics. I believe there is a way to bring awareness in tandem with forgiveness and love.
'Basmati Blues' deals with a great social issue, GMOs, but it's told through love and song and dance.
I started acting in second grade - my first role was in the Thanksgiving play. I was the Indian chasing the turkey. All the other mom's encouraged my mom to get me into acting after that. Also, when I saw 'The Sound of Music' at Music Circus, I knew I wanted to act.
I used to dislike it, but now I like it more and more, feeling small. I like feeling like a little speck.
When you eliminate all stimuli, your brain is like, 'Finally, we've got some space! I want to talk with you about something!'
I've been really fortunate that I've worked with a lot of strong women who are also mothers.
We're coming into a new generation of women where there's the submissive woman, and then our reaction to it is, 'No, I'm a man, too, and I'm masculine,' and then we fight against it, which isn't the answer, either.
