I love relatable stories.

I started small with commercials and print.

I felt very vulnerable after 'Sleeping with the Fishes'; I gained weight for the role. I felt a bit out of my skin in the movie, and it was hard to watch.

I think all Latino actors want to be storytellers first. I want to be an actor first, and then I want to be Latina.

I've been very lucky; God has done amazing things for me.

I started performing very young as a salsa dancer, and every time I was on that stage dancing, all I knew was that I wanted to speak. I wanted the music to stop, and I wanted to speak.

Being an actress wasn't realistic. I knew that I was going to have to do it in a way that would speak to my parents. So I went to NYU Tisch School of the Arts for theater, and I studied at the conservatory.

When I got out of college, I booked a movie called 'Go for It!' with Lionsgate, came out here, and I've been acting ever since - or trying, constantly trying.

I was a salsa dancer for the majority of my life, from, like, 7 to 17, and did the World Salsa Congresses. I realized that I wanted to continue obviously to be a performer. But in my household, being an actor and jumping into acting is not really accepted.

I will play the characters with last names like Sanchez and Gonzalez until the day I die, but I also want to play the 'Michelle Smiths.'