Ellar Coltrane

I've struggled so much, growing up, with just feeling that my life is valid because it's not filled with these hyper-dramatic moments, and I think a lot of people of my generation feel that way. We're so inundated with hyper-drama that people crave everyday life.

I feel like that's so ingrained in so many children that you are so confined and repressed growing up that, anything you do, you have to rebel against it at some point.

I was a pretty alert kid, and I, you know, I was very interested in arts.

The only thing in life that really gives me any peace is just being lost in the process of creating something, whether it's the film or painting and drawing, which has been a big part of my life, for a long time.

I was very angsty from a very young age. The way people start acting when they're 15, I started being at 8.

My mom comes from a really out-there upbringing, so for her, the way she raised me is pretty disciplined. I was home-schooled but more really unschooled, really.

I was raised to be some kind of artist.

It was surreal to step out of my own existence and see how most American children experience things.

I didn't have my parents to rebel against, but I had society, and that definitely is what they taught me. Just: Trust nothing.

I don't want to make any general statements, but I feel like so many stories that are presented as being about humanity and human emotion are just so convoluted and overly dramatic and focus on these certain little things that are supposedly meaningful, but just don't really mean anything.

It's beautiful to have people look me in the eyes and actually treat me like a human.

I like acting; I like being lost in the creative process.