Quotes

I can't go anywhere without people talking to me or recognizing me from the show [This Is Us (2016)]. This woman told me she never understood her daughter and her weight issues 'til she saw the show. She got teary-eyed, I started getting teary-eyed...it was beautiful.

When I booked This Is Us (2016), I had 81 cents in my bank account. I could cry right now just thinking about it.

[on landing This Is Us (2016)] I've had women - average women, older women, teenagers - who say to me, "Your role and this show has changed my life." That makes all the struggle, all the ramen noodles, all the times when I couldn't pay my bills, all the times where I was like, "I can't do this," worth it. Sometimes I cry on the way to the set still. There is something that happens when you are grateful: You continue to keep receiving blessings. So I will always be grateful.

If you can't love who you are now, you can't get to the place you want to be. It's a daily lesson for all of us. I'm paving the way for other women and men who know they're destined for greatness but they don't believe it yet. There's more room for all of us now - no matter our sexuality, race, body size, gender or whatever else.

[on lives lived] Not everybody is your forever person. Everybody is a student or a teacher and sometimes we're both. I'm happy to live my life and if it helps people in their process, in their life, in their journey of breakups and inadequacies, I'm happy to do it.