I was always involved in the arts from a young age. I started studying classical piano at age four as a student of the Associated Board of the Royal School of Music.
I was grounded in the performing arts from a very young age.
I was always in dance and performing arts school. All of my schools were performing arts. I'm the one that, like, turns up the whole party.
I was an arts kid in every form of the word you can imagine. I wanted to sing and dance and act - I wanted to do it all. At a very young age, I was put in performing arts schools where I got to do those things every single day.
And if you think this young boy, from Dallas, Texas, is adding to the canon of theater arts, of performing arts, of cinema, well I'm humbled and I'm very excited.
I've always been interested in the sport even as a young kid. I liked the sport of martial arts because I loved anything that involved contact, conflict or collision.
I had been performing since I was 5, so it wasn't like I hadn't been on a stage before. I was always older than my age. That's my nature. I've always been a kind of mature kid.
I've always been involved in the visual arts and music.
From a stupidly young age I was always involved in anything, whether it be a nativity play or little kids plays. Wherever it was, I was involved and I think it was because more than anything, I wanted to be the center of attention.
A lot of people don't realize, when you are acting in a martial arts film, you're not just performing martial arts. You're not just performing martial arts. You're actually acting as much as any other actor.
I've always been interested in how things change, in social change. I was involved in the animal rights movement as a young woman, I've been involved in thinking about gender and issues around racism and so on.
When I was in 'Billy,' I always knew that I wanted to do something in performing. I always knew that I wanted to have a future in the performing arts. I had no idea that it was going to be acting in movies.
I think the Apollo has always been the people's performing arts center and reflected the community, whether it is Stevie Wonder or Tito Puente.
I grew up in the church, singing in choirs, and I went to a performing arts school, and I had a gospel group, so music has always been in my blood.
I was involved with MySpace and Facebook and everything at a very young age because it's so casual now, and I'm into texting, obviously. But I've never been involved in any type of chat room. My parents are pretty cautious about it and know all my passwords and know who my friends are and who I'm talking to.
I come from a family rooted in the arts, so I think I naturally gravitated towards performing from an early age.