Quotes from Kelly Marie Tran

You get the initial script, and then things sort of change here and there, but the whole thing is this sort of mushy collaboration, which I love.

When I'm driving past the place I used to work, or when I'm driving past the comedy studio where I used to take photos in exchange for classes, or when I'm driving past the yoga studio I used to clean on the weekends - it's not that far removed from me yet. I get very sentimental over things like that.

I truly did feel that I owed it to my parents, my grandparents, to do whatever it was that I wanted, because if I wasn't happy, if I wasn't being true to myself, then I wasn't living fully. They had given up so much so that I could live at the level that so many people are just automatically born into.

So many people don't realise you need to be on a certain level of Maslow's hierarchy to have a dream: you have to have food and be safe from danger, all these things my parents didn't have at the get go, so I, from the very beginning, believe I have been living for multiple generations, for my parents and grandparents.

I worked in an office. I was like an assistant. So, I would just answer phone calls, coordinate events. It was a great day job. I worked with amazing people, but obviously, whenever you are doing something that's not your dream, you kind of feel like, 'Oh, I'm on this grind.'

Even if someone doesn't like it, or just likes it for me, storytelling has been the one true love story of my entire life.

I was not on social media for a really long time because I was afraid of being seen.

I believe if you can have an open dialogue about anything, whether it's a book or a movie or TV show, it's this door that suddenly opens your mind to new ideas.

I was working a full-time job but not having anything in my savings account at the end of the month because of my bills and because acting in the beginning costs money.

You find little ways to keep your mind at peace so that you can, at the end of the day, do the most important thing, which is do a good job.

I wish that all different types of people of all races and all upbringings were all equally represented in this industry that influences so many people.

You know who I was most nervous to meet, probably? Andy Serkis. I am such a huge fan.

I feel like I'm always talking about myself, and I love not talking about myself.

I want to work with great directors and tell great stories - storytelling is the one great love of my life, and it means so much, and we have the ability to change the world by telling stories, and I want to keep doing that.

You search for images and stories and movies and music from people that look like you and sound like you and speak like you because you want to feel like, 'Oh, if they can do it, so can I.' There's a little bit of that need for validation, especially when you're younger and trying to look to someone to look up to.

So much of me is because of what my parents experienced in this country. So much of me is because of the things my parents overcame so that I could have the luxury of having a dream.

My parents are not of this world. I've had to work multiple jobs, been in a position where I cannot pay off student loans.

I think anytime you go into anything that's different and new, there's a bit of fear.

Seeing someone dressed up as your character is incredible.