I don't complain, say, 'I can't do this, I can't do that.' You don't do that with a big professional director. If you do that, you won't be able to do TV.

I want to be a professional. I want to be like my TV father, Bill Smitrovich. He's an easy, calm actor. I don't want to freak out.

I want to be a professional.

Back in the early '40s, they used to call Down syndrome infants and babies 'mongoloids.' It's very hard for parents.

My being in America and being adopted from the Philippines have given me motivation and drive as an artist.

People always go on about me being an inspiration, which is nice. But it’s an unrealistic pedestal to be put on. There are other people out there who have had things happen to them, not just me."

I'd say that my musical influences are anywhere from pop-rock electronica, new age and classical. But I think that specifically, bands - I love Jem, I love Sigur Ross, I love David Gray, I love Elliot Smith... a lot of different people. But I don't find lyrical inspiration from anybody.

The moment of inspiration can come from memory, or language, or the imagination, or experience - anything that makes an impression forcibly enough for language to form.