I went from a naive, regular girl in high school to trying to realize my dream. When my family moved from the East Coast to California, I thought in my little brain, "Wow, I'm going to Hollywood. I could actually make this happen." It was easier for me to think it's possible living in a place like Los Angeles than trying to do it in suburban Maryland.
I think because I've maintained my residence in New York, those kinds of films have been more accessible.
Every time I try to set something in Chicago, I get intimidated by 'Augie March.' It's easy to set something in Indianapolis - we don't have 'Augie March' here. But I love writing about Chicago, and I love being there and imagining lives in Chicago. I hope to set something there in the future, but it's intimidating.
What wouldn't have happened to me if I hadn't ended up in Hartford, Connecticut.
I would most like to do film or TV. Possibly theatre in the future, but I'm in L.A. a lot of the time at the moment and if I was going to do theatre it would be in London.
I'm in Hollywood - I have no business not being in the movie industry.
If Hollywood was somewhere else, if Hollywood was in Lincoln, Nebraska, then obviously celebrities would be coming around a lot more to the Huskers games.
The way I personally work is I like to write what I know, what I feel, and also where I am.
Everything I write, I've written the first draft in Austria.
When I went to Hong Kong, I knew at once I wanted to write a story set there.
My personal style changes wherever I am. When I'm in Ibiza, I'm a bit girlier because there's an opportunity to be more romantic and dress up for the beach scene. Whereas in New York, I tend to go for suiting and tailoring that almost feels like weaponry for the city - but I think I'm quite playful no matter what.
My natural accent is American. I chose to speak with a U.K. accent when I was about to enter the final year at drama school in London. I was going to try to find a way to stay in the U.K. after I finished college and could not imagine trying to live and get work there with an American accent.
When I moved to Nashville, I didn't really let myself sonically explore, but things naturally got a little more poppy. And in L.A., even more so.
I only made two studio movies, that was a long time ago and obviously I removed myself. I think some of that is geographical. I live in New York and I want to work there, it's as simple as that.
I almost always do things that I like, in some form or fashion. Every once in awhile that means that I don't think the script is any good and I don't have any trust in the people, but the film is shooting in Sri Lanka, or somewhere like that, so I'm going.
I have been to the theater more since I have lived in New York than I ever really did in London working on a television show.
It was in Kanpur where I got exposed to the art of filmmaking.
In New York I was always offered the hot, sexy roles. But in L.A. I was offered the plain, dowdy roles. It says a lot about the difference between the coasts.
'Lost' was filmed in Hawaii, so we stayed there and loved it, so we thought, 'Why would we leave?' It is a bit like growing up in a bubble, but I don't think that's a bad thing, as you will eventually get out and see the real world.
We brainstorm an idea and then we do flesh it out a little bit - we come up with a script, mostly to have beats and a sense of a story and a narrative arc. Often when we get into the space and onto the location, that changes and something we discover in the moment becomes the moment, becomes the story, becomes the character.
Research the venue and location before outfit shopping, as it helps set the mood and style focus: a traditional wedding in the countryside offers a different set of sartorial rules to a tropical, beach vibe, for instance.
