Growing up, for me, it was in a musical family, so my mum and her brothers and sisters always sang. Every time I tried to join their group when I was little, they were like, 'Ah, darling, you're not too good - just sit back and watch us.'

We were little girls coming off of a TV show and had a team of people trying to sculpt us into something we weren't.

I was just grateful for the fact that I was able to repay my parents for their sacrifices throughout my career.

Oh first, let me tell you how amazed I am by the wealth of talents in the Philippines. I remember watching a lot of home videos about Filipino artists, and they are really very talented. That really motivated me to always do my best and to stay inspired.

We always have dinner together as a family - even when our schedules are totally hectic. I inherited that from my mom, who would come home from her ad agency job to eat with us before going back to work.

Coming from the Malayalam sets, when I went to Telugu, people told me that I wasn't acting and that it felt dead. It was very subtle in Malayalam, while it is slightly dramatic in Telugu. It is quite fascinating to understand what each industry expects of you and work according to that.

I thought I'd have a career playing women in the vein of Ruth Gordon, and we've seen that type almost disappear.

I spent a lot of my career fighting coaches. When coaches told me don't shoot, I'd shoot anyway.