I've danced hula since I was 5. My mom danced hula as well. It's been in my family from far back and really connected me to my ancestors.

My friends have said, 'Wait, you're pretty, and you sing? What do you mean you're interested in science?' I have to just hold my head and go, 'Do you hear yourself?' By no means should you ever limit yourself because of what others think or because of their perceptions of what someone looks like in a certain field.

When I sing, it's different from when I speak in a very interesting way. I think that, when you're singing, a message is carried in a different way. I don't know if that emotion needs a melody.

I'm kind of an animated person. I was given this really big blessing that my voice just kind of carries the emotion.

For inspiration, we still demand the rhetorical high notes. Clinton has hit them before, in her speech in Beijing as first lady when she said, 'Women's rights are human rights,' and in her 2008 concession speech, when she talked about the '18 million cracks' in the glass ceiling.

I dig those kinds of roles where I have to dig down and find some internal motivation. I like tough roles.

My mother was a beautiful lady, elegant, chic, and that was the biggest inspiration to me.

One of the benefits of doing low-budget movies is you don't have to release them wide to recoup. You can release it in a smaller way, make your money back, and keep going.