I have really fond memories of Texas. By the time I was eight, we started to go back to Chile very regularly, and many family members came to visit us because we couldn't go visit them.

I was so obsessed with film and actors that I wasn't a very good student. I was always in trouble, but my father would always take us to the movies.

My sister and I were born in Chile and raised in the States, and my little brothers were born in the States and raised in Chile after my parents moved back in 1995.

I just went to your typical public schools, and my dad would take us to the movies every week, or he'd buy scalped tickets to San Antonio Spurs games. I remember I was four or five years old and my parents, who were very young, took us to see The Police in Austin, and Iggy Pop opened.

I did try theatre out when I was little. I did roles as a child actress. My parents didn't push me into it. But I was up for it. I didn't enjoy doing eight shows a week, though. That repetitiveness didn't appeal to me. I love doing something different every day and travelling. You can't do that in the theatre.

My father sort of relented. He saw Rajiv, and he said he is a good man. But his more worried about his daughter, because I was going far to a place completely different... with completely different customs. He felt that perhaps I would not be able to accustom to these new ways.

My life is one that I've aimed for - I've always wanted to be an actor who worked in film and television and was able to provide for himself and his family.

I happen to be half West Indian, but I don't know that side of my family.