Condola Rashad

I admire fashion and I respect it greatly, but I don't necessarily follow trends. I never really have. I just wear what I like to wear. I really like colors, and there are some things I wear and don't care what anybody says about it being in style or not. I wear it anyway.

The reason why I like theater is because it's a long journey, and no matter what role you play, we are all in it together.

I'm a songwriter and I'd love to make that a part of my career.

I started playing piano when I was around four; that's my first passion.

Paul Giamatti is truly one of my biggest inspirations, and even more so now that I've gotten to work with him. Every single thing he does, he completely transforms into it. When I watch a film with Paul in it, I'm not like, 'Oh, there's Paul.' I'm completely into whatever character he's in, and I'm not thinking about him as an actor.

Shakespeare teaches you how to act. You come out of this process as a better actor. It's just the nature of the words he writes.

You know how there's always the one girl in drama school who can cry at the drop of a hat? She has that emotional well she can tap into in a second? I'm not that girl. It takes a lot to get me to that place.

My view of myself as an artist expanded because of the time I spent at Cal Arts.

I had a period without acting work, and I took a job as a cocktail server. In 'Stick Fly,' my character has to carry a tray, and I knew how to do it because of the job.

William Shakespeare was a brilliant writer and he only wrote the truth. So, if I don't believe it, I have to work really hard to see what that truth is so that I do; that's the only way I can make it believable for the audience.

The way I work emotionally is: I don't ever try to cry. I try not to, which is what for me produces organic emotion.

One day I'm not busy at all; the next day I have work for months - that's kind of the way it works!