I didn't want to live in an Islamic society because I knew I wasn't going to be a first-class citizen, and I knew I was not going to be able to keep doing what I was doing as an actress.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I'm sure one reason I became an actor is my basic unwillingness to live one life.
I didn't set out wanting to be an actress. That's not what I did. I didn't go to class striving to become an actress. I just basically - honestly, I didn't have anything else going.
I didn't want to be an actress. I wasn't trying to be in film or an art gallery for me.
In my early years, there were a number of experiences that made me decide I could not afford the luxury of just being an actress. There were a number of issues I wanted to address. And I wanted to use my career as a platform.
I wanted to be an actress. In college I was a serious feminist and very political. I was determined to get one thing out of my career and that was respect. I didn't want money. I didn't care about fame.
I lived in the Muslim world for 10 years.
I didn't want to escape my life and become a big actress and live my dreams. That was never the way it was; it was just these amazing opportunities that happened.
And also I didn't want my future to be just sitting in a room and be imprisoned in my four walls and just cooking and giving birth to children. I didn't want to see my life in that way.
I saw Islam as the correct way to live, and I chose to try to live that way.
I wanted to become an actor because I wanted to become a gypsy. I wanted to live the gypsy life!