I told myself when I was broke and homeless that my biggest goal was just to have a house. That goal was achieved. I'm just really, really lucky.

I was emancipated at 15. I went to school and had a full-time job and apartment, and ever since, I've been on my own, parenting myself.

I was that kid who was always practicing crying or falling asleep or being angry or being excited. I was that weirdo in my room making faces.

Obviously, I love acting.

I think a child requires initial years of a mother's attention, which is very important, and I did it without any thought in the world. That's what I wanted to do.

Sometimes a child will get lucky and be placed with foster parents who are loving and supportive and who consider that child their own. But for many, that doesn't happen. Kids are moved around from home to home, to group home and institutions, until they are 18, when they are considered adults and the system is finished with them.

I made 'The Farewell' for me, for my family, and for other immigrant children, or children of immigrants, who feel caught in-between two worlds.

We put more emphasis on who can drive a car than on who can be a parent. And I think there ought to be mandatory parenting classes starting in high school, and you should have to have a license to be able to be a parent to explain that you don't give alcohol to kids.