Quotes from Annaleigh Ashford

I think no matter what you are going to pursue, if you pursue it like it's the most important thing, then everything else will be lost. And at the end of the day, when it's time to evaluate the path that you chose for your life, there has to be something more.

My mom is a gym teacher, and shes not musically inclined, but she always wanted to help me out with music as best she could.

I was born and raised in Denver, CO.

I've always felt very attuned to, and at home in, the gay community.

The older I get and the more iconic the piece, I believe that it's wise to watch a bit and become inspired and take moments that feel so connected to the story and also connected to me that I feel like I can make a part of my own performance.

I came out of the womb singing, dancing, and telling awkward jokes.

We don't often talk about the quarter-life crisis, but it is a real thing.

Animals are completely grounded in their root chakra.

There are certain performers that the gay community receives and recognizes with love, and my whole life, I've always responded to those same artists.

Greg Grunberg is so beautiful and charming and funny and heartbreaking.

That's one of the beauties of James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim and their work together. They have such a depth to the emotional exploration of the story that they're telling, but there's always a release, and the release is a laugh.

My first big show in Denver was 'Ruthless! The Musical.' I played Tina Denmark at the Theatre on Broadway. It was my big break!

My mom is an elementary school gym teacher and a track and cross-country coach, so she really wanted me to be a runner. But I was not a runner. I was horrible at running.

I'll be, like, grocery shopping or doing something totally mundane, and once a day, you'll hear a Cyndi Lauper song on the radio. It is astounding what an icon she is, not just in popular music but in popular culture.

It's important to remember to pinch yourself to remind you where you came from and how lucky you are.

I started performing non-professionally at birthday parties and family gatherings doing 'Saturday Night Live' impressions at four. Then I started for real at seven.

If you've ever been to a great clown show, there's always a moment where the clown goes into the house and fuses with the audience. There's something fantastic about the improv of it all.

The people I see be the most successful are the people who have an inner confidence and an inner strength that comes from the character they display away from the stage and from what their parents taught them.

Sometimes in a big theatre, you have about, probably, six yards sometimes between you and the first person in the audience. It's almost like you've got to jump across a little pond to get there and then keep moving.

It takes skill to sing bad and dance bad, because there's a certain amount of unawareness that people have when they can't sing and they can't dance, so I have to say that it is a challenge!

As an actor, you have times that are bustling, and then you have the quieter, slower times. I definitely had some of those.

The cast of 'The Big C' is such an amazing group of people. They're so joyful and just open their arms to you as an actor.

In 'Kinky Boots,' I looked for moments to be bold, showing Lauren's gutsiness and smarts. She's a little bit kooky now, too, and I love me some kooky.

I think part of becoming a wonderful actor and part of defining your craft is defining yourself and being confident in yourself, so when the hard knocks come, and you don't get a job for five years, and your ego is being kicked around, you can pull yourself out of it.