It took me five years to realize what I could do with my voice. No Auto-Tune - cut all that off.
I'm not thinking about what needs to be on the radio. I'm not thinking about anything other than - I'm just going to let this music come out of me and not have any sort of preconceived notion of what I should do. I'm just going to do it.
What I don't believe is that DVDs or HD broadcasts can be a substitute for the real thing.
The good thing about my fans is that they like when I'm awkward and real, so I'm able to just go on stage and be my dorky self.
I never try to pander to an audience, and I'm really not concerned with my image. I'm far more interested in stretching my abilities as an actor.
The word 'theatrical' makes me cringe, because it suggests a performance is staged, put on, rehearsed. And while all this is true for an opera, I believe the act of singing and performing should always be honest, raw, guttural.
I get a more passionate delivery when I just go in the booth and let the music talk.
I've never stopped making new music, and whether the audience wants to hear it or not, I'm going to play it. Because I'm an artist, and I create, and I've got new stuff.
Anything goes when I perform. That's the way it's been since I started. I do whatever I want, and I know my humor isn't for everybody.
It's TV: you just have to jump in and just do it. You don't have time to think about it. You don't have time to write a history, which makes it even better. I go with first instincts.
I'm not one of these actresses like, 'Okay, where's the camera? Is it here? Is it here?' I don't even ask the questions because I don't really want to know. I like not performing for a camera but giving it my best every single time whether you're close or whether you're far.
Sometimes, there's a preconceived notion of how a scene or how a work should be delivered. And I see young performers sometimes try and deliver that, and it's not really true to their voice or who they are.
When child actors act well they're just reacting to situations, and they're acting very real because their life experience is so short; there's no history to fall back on.
One of the interesting things about watching a kid perform is that they are too innocent to understand how talented they are… they have no inhibitions. If you ask them to sing, they will sing based on whatever training and practice they have.
I write poems like some people sing in the bathroom.
More of me comes out when I improvise.
I want to seem completely bare. Especially when I'm reading for a role. I want to reveal myself in the audition room. That's where I'm happiest.
I wanted the songs to be themselves, instead of worrying about all this crazy slickster production.
There's that great thing about acting - you're wearing your heart on your sleeve, and you're speaking off the cuff. You know, you're fearless about it, and - and it's great. And I love it.
