DEBORAH JOY WINANS

I got my B.F.A. at Wayne State. Moved to L.A. and got my M.F.A. from Cal Arts in acting and just worked hard.

I didn't have drama in high school. So when I graduated high school and started at Wayne State in Detroit, I told my parents I was going to major in theater. And they were like, 'OK. Why? You've never done it.' But, it was just what I wanted, and they came to see my very first show and, from then, completely supported me.

That's the best worship you can get when the worship leader is there with no other intentions and ready to sing their heart out for the Lord.

I think that a sense of loyalty is something that a lot of people lack, just period, in life.

My Auntie CeCe - I can kind of joke and say all I need to do is pray. But that's literally what she does... She lives what she sings. I've learned a lot about her in that way, so in bringing her to the stage, I knew what sort of demeanor she needed to have. Her songs are very reflective of who she is in real life.

My first job out of CalArts was performing monologues at the Women of Faith conferences across the country.

I love my family's music because I love it. It's good. I listen to the Winans all the time. I listen to BeBe and CeCe. I listen to Angie and Debbie. I listen to Uncle Daniel. I listen to Phase 2, my two brothers and my two cousins. I think they're incredible.

Being from a family in church and being a Christian myself, I pray daily.

Singing was never my thing.

Greenleaf' is about family, but also about faith and failure and real human life.

Everyone is human, and everyone makes mistakes.

I love acting since I was little girl. I went to school for it; that's all I worked on. That's all I prepared for.

I love the Lord. I did grow up in a gospel family.

I was at a point of asking God whether acting was what He really wanted me to do. Oprah Winfrey came to one of my workshops, and a couple of months later, she reached out to Uncle BeBe, who co-wrote 'Born For This.' Oprah told him she was interested in me for the role of Charity on 'Greenleaf' and asked him to help her contact me.

I sang in the choir growing up and more recently served on the worship team at my church in California.

My parents would take us to double-feature movies on the weekends, and I would just point at the screen and tell them that that's what I wanted to do.

Health and a positive body image are part of my personal values.

I enjoy working. And, I really enjoy the fact that I get to do what I love and call it work.

I have 18 or 19 first cousins, and we're all very close.

I often joke with my husband and say to him, 'You know I have two theatre degrees, right? That's all I know how to do.' LOL! He went to Pepperdine Law School, has four degrees, and passed the California Bar first time around, so I always make sure he doesn't expect too much from me.

I think my biggest thing is if you don't believe in you, then others are not going to believe in you.

I think I'm constantly resorting to making sure to keep God's perspective in my mind.

I remember telling the Lord - I was about seventeen or eighteen - I'm like, 'Lord, I'm never gonna sing. You know that's my family's thing; that not what I do.'

When you're in a church, and you're singing about the presence of the Lord, it is so hard not to get overjoyed because I know Him.

I was at a point where I couldn't find an agent or a manager, and I said, 'Okay, Lord. If this is what you have for me, I need you to work that. I need you to open doors.' I was at that point of truly surrendering whatever my will was, and, 'Lord, if this is what You want, You do it.' And, He did it.