Quotes

On her mixed parentage: "My mother is Scottish Norwegian, my father was most likely Creole - there was a lot of mixing: Native American, French, African."

On being a 'love child': "My story is something that would rival anything you see on daytime dramas."

On feeling like an 'outsider' growing up: "When you're torn between trying to fit in and knowing you don't and never will, but not knowing how to be comfortable on the outside."

On knowing early on she wanted to act: Even at the age of three I just knew. When I first saw other children on television I told my mother that I could do that before I knew the word actor. And the first time I got a laugh on stage, I was filled with an overwhelming sensation that this, at last, was where I belonged.

On science fiction shows and female characters: "I was excited to finally be allowed to step outside the pretty girl roles and play a woman who is as much a tomboy as I am."

Regarding her LA work: I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to play characters who can exercise an intellect as easily as an emotional life and who are not hemmed in by the stereotypes that so often haunt women of color.