Viola Davis, Patti Smith, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Julianne Moore. I could go on forever listing names. However... my greatest inspirations have, without a doubt, been my teachers, friends, and family.
To watch Lin Manuel Miranda... you could not make a better spokesperson for Broadway in a laboratory.
Imagine if Lin-Manuel Miranda had tried to do 'Hamilton' first in Hollywood. They would have told him, 'The forefathers weren't Latino or black. They didn't speak in hip hop.' That would never had gotten going in Hollywood ever. But theater let Lin-Manuel him do it, and he created an incredible masterpiece.
Lin-Manuel Miranda is a musical icon, and being part of any show of his is an honor.
If we recover something like a functioning, well-informed democratic polity - if it hasn't been wrecked for good by the people who are getting in now, if millennials and teenagers can come to maturity in a world where we hold free and fair elections and agree on what fact is - Lin-Manuel Miranda is going to have a lot to do with that.
We've definitely talked about making a musical episode. We definitely need to make that happen. Let's get Lin-Manuel Miranda on the phone. He's a Star Trek' fan, so I feel we can make this happen.
Imagine Eminem writing a play with complex raps and syllables, and melodies flowing in and out. That's what it was like for me listening to Lin-Manuel Miranda, it was incredible. So it just goes to show that if you put your teaching style in a certain form, that will attract the attention of the people you are trying to teach.
I wasn't familiar with Patti [Smith ]much at all. When I was asked to photograph her, my wife said, "Oh my God, Patti Smith!" So I looked at some Robert Mapplethorpe books and I recognized those pictures.
I'm big on hair. I love Julianne Moore's hair. That's all I'd like: Julianne Moore hair.
In theater, you can be free. That's how Lin-Manuel Miranda got to do the most revolutionary piece of theater with 'Hamilton': color-blind casting in roles in which they would never cast Latinos if it were a film or TV show. It just goes to show that Hollywood and cable are way behind.
My muses were all the incredible, iconic women of glamour in Hollywood that I have worked with over 15 years. Anjelica Huston, Michelle Pfeiffer, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lena Dunham, Viola Davis, Rihanna, Demi Moore.
I became Patti's [Smith] messenger, basically, and the film is my view of how I learned about Patti.
My full name is Lauren Lee Smith. Of all the names I could have been given, that's the one I got. Lauren Lee Smith. It has all the personality of a toaster.
Any alphabet book for children where 'P is for Patti' Smith and 'X is for the women whose names we don't know' is something I can recommend, especially when the book is as well written, representationa lly diverse and vividly illustrated as this one.
I did my first Broadway play, 'The Vertical Hour,' in 2006, with Julianne Moore, who's always been one of my favorite actresses. My scene was with her, so it was nerve-racking.
I took pictures of the objects and artifacts that Patti [Smith] would show to her friends because I wanted to document them.
People ask me if I'm worried that I'm going to be stuck in Miranda forever. I'm not, because how could I complain about what I've been given?