I've been acting since second grade, telling stories, making my parents laugh here and there, so I'm hoping my "thing" is acting. But I also make a really good bread pudding.

I always like to be a step ahead of the audience by surprising them and the best way to do that is to not hold back.

Well, I'm from the South originally. I grew up in South Carolina definitely learning about manners and being proper and having to go to cotillions.

I think everybody wants to be a rock star.

I went to School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, and we had a bunch of singing classes. My first job in New York was an Off-Broadway musical.

Ultimately, I don't think you can teach a tone-deaf person how to sing. Some talents you're just born with, unfortunately.

Sometimes you just can't hear yourself. Maybe ears are too close to the mouth.

It's shocking when someone who is really bad thinks they're really good. It's heartbreaking, because singing is such a vulnerable thing to do.

You always envy someone else's life and, as a woman, you're always comparing your life to someone else's life.

I think that the audience wants to see women being put into real situations where they can relate to them, rather than seeing some glamorous woman in a 'Bond' film.

I'm a huge fan of Jessica Lange and 'American Horror Story.' I would love to work with her. She's been one of my favorite actresses for a while.

Sometimes we have spent so long in the cage that it feels safer to be trapped inside.

Today I am in control because I want to be. I have my fingers on the switch, but have lived a lifetime ignoring the control I have over my own world. Today is different.

So before we end and then beginWe'll drink a toast to how it's beenA few more hours to be completeA few more nights on satin sheetsA few more times that I can sayI've loved these days

Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius.

I'm not a jazz singer.

No poems can please long or live that are written by water drinkers.

America has a way of inventing tradition each morning and erasing the past by nightfall, and thehold of ancient custom is endangered by a thousand cicumstances.

I put myself under immense pressure.

In the blues, it just takes so long for us to get recognized.

Let's use the opportunities before us to stand for Christ. If we will do, God himself will honor our efforts and America can be restored.