We want to be big... we want to be a big band, but we don't want to be your best friends.
When I realized that my big dream was going to come true - 'Night Shift' was a success, 'Splash' was a success, I got the job to do 'Cocoon' - suddenly, I was underway. And I knew my name was rising up the lists. I was going to have a career. I was going to be able to direct movies until I screwed it up.
I'm still waiting to hit it big. But there was the moment when I didn't have to work at the restaurant anymore, which is the milestone for every actor. When your job is just to be an actor and not to have to do anything else.
I was determined to be an actor and make a name in the industry, and hence, I did.
I feel so lucky. When an actor that has been struggling for so long makes the transition into being an actor full-time, it is the most amazing feeling. It's just sort of like a 3,000-pound weight gets lifted from you, and you're able to mostly focus on just being an artist, which is an amazing, blessed luxury I have.
I know everybody wants to make it to the NFL, but it doesn't happen like that.
With 'Hip-Hop Saved My Life,' I attempted to make 'Kick, Push,' but for rappers. To give a real basic play-by-play of the life of a rapper before he makes it - if he ever makes it, because you can get stuck in that and be trying to make it for the rest of your life.
I came to Hollywood and nobody knew me. I was on a coupla TV shows.
Everyone said that if you want to be a real actor, go to New York. If you want to sell out, go to LA. And I thought - I want to sell out!
The problem is that right from the beginning, there was this whole pressure that I've had to make it big. I don't know if it's my fault or if someone else created this atmosphere around me, but it's been there.
The tale of the actor struggling to make it is oft-told for a reason.
I wanted to be the next Dana Carvey. This was my ultimate goal. If I ever cut into a birthday cake and made a wish, I would wish to be on 'Saturday Night Live.' If I threw a coin into a fountain, I would wish to be on 'Saturday Night Live.' If I saw a shooting star, I would wish to be on 'Saturday Night Live.'
I said to my mother, 'When you see my name in 'Vogue,' I will have arrived.'
I was 29 when we sort of broke through with Ghost.
I'm just a girl from Amsterdam. It's a small city. Everybody knows Amsterdam, but it's still a small city. To come from there, to work with Will. i. am... it's like, 'What happened?! What did I do right?'
I want to work with Steven Spielberg... whether it is a small role or big in a Hollywood movie, it will be a lifetime experience for me. It will be a dream come true for me. And I always believe that anything can happen in life.
I went through some tough years when I first moved to Los Angeles, and 'The Riches' was my first major success.
I did a guest episode of 'Royal Pains,' and then right after that, 'Supergirl' happened, and I was like, 'How did I get here?' Every day, I walk on set, and I'm waiting for someone to be like, 'Ma'am, you can't be here.'
I was a star in England, but I've never been a star in America. Now I am.
To be honest I never thought the acting thing would get off the ground.
They thought I was crazy in Mexico when I said, 'I'm going to Hollywood.' Nobody thought I could make it.
Shaking the commissioner's hand has always been a big thing for me. When you're young and you watch the draft every year, you're like, 'That's going to be me one day.'
When I held my first album in my hands, I tell you, there were tears falling down my face. I thought 'This is it. I've arrived. I'm going to be an overnight world star.'
To even be a working entertainer in Hollywood is such a rare privilege.
Since my childhood, I have been watching Telugu films. It was always my dream to make it big here.
