Growing up, my aunts would always put in hair ties and bows and all kinds of stuff, and I always hated it.

My father is German; my mother is African-American. Growing up, I visited my grandparents in Berlin a lot. I would not see any other person of color for three weeks. People would stare. They would say things like, 'Oh, you look like chocolate - I want to eat you up!'

For me, a big thing growing up was naturalness - both in being and appearance. My mom never let me relax my natural hair. For so long, I thought I was ugly, and I still sometimes struggle with that. But now I've come to feel like this is me.

Growing up I definitely, definitely had a bunch of things of, 'Um, am I black enough?' - and I guess specifically, 'Am I German enough?' Why are we measuring blackness?

I learned about not just being with someone because I don't want to be alone: being willing to be alone, and then find something that feels right and just reaching for companionship for companionship's sake. Not letting drama lead my life.

Outlander' is based on a group of books; there's a slight fantasy element to it, but ours is authentic - we try to stick to historical accuracy as possible. Ours is about a small group of people and a core relationship rather than big armies.

My relationship with every film is more or less the same, but the experience is the difference. It comes with the people I am working with, the character I play.

I think more civil society programs, more free enterprise, more contacts with their fellow brethren in Miami - that's good for the long-term, and that's an investment in America's long-term relationship with the Cuban people, not the Cuban government.