"I don't fear being outspoken. The only thing I fear is losing my sense of integrity or losing sight of the values on which I guide my life. So I don't think it's particularly brave or unusual for me to speak out."

"Listening to an underserved population is how you begin to understand them and serve them better."

"Make sure your work is never results-oriented. The result is a byproduct of the work, in a way."

"I wish reporters were more in tune to the difference between the Asian experience and the Asian-American experience. I think often they lump the two together and think that when I talk about Asian-American narratives that they can cite Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or Mulan as proof of concept when it's a different experience."

"I don't have the best family life. I'm not going to have a sob story and be like, my parents abandoned me, because they didn't. But they also are not that present. When I'm alone, I'm alone. I don't have anybody to call, and so I have to create meaning from myself."

"Specificity is what makes good storytelling, and good storytelling is what makes money, and making money is then what encourages new producers to invest in different stories about Asians."

"I'd rather lose all my stuff than lose myself, because I've done that before, and that feels way worse."

"I'm okay with not having a super-secure lifestyle because if you're doing what you like, you don't need stuff to fill any empty holes."

"Being an actor, in and of itself, is just hard. You have to just do it for its own sake."