Growing up, my favorite movies were 'Forrest Gump,' 'Shawshank Redemption,' 'Gladiator' - none of them really had Asian leading men.

When I was growing up, my mom didn't let me watch a lot of TV. She said I couldn't watch 'Friends' or that era of sitcoms.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt's career is kind of how I want to create my career. He's very involved with his recording and production company and also worked on some really great projects.

When I started acting, one of the first things I learned was - especially in Hollywood - was branding. I'm a tall guy. I'm like, 'Yeah, that's probably going to be my foot in the door,' because that's my impression on everybody. I'm an athletic guy, and I think, because I grew up disliking jocks so much, that became, like, the character for me.

I stand here as the mother of three children, who knows firsthand how difficult it can be to combine family and a career.

My whole career has been fulfilling my childhood fantasies, playing characters that are larger than life, getting to play a knight, an elf, a prince, and a soldier.

In my whole career, in fact, I can remember only two first nights when a show was at its peak on the first night. And I just wish we could devise a system where critics came not on a single evening but were given a choice of performances to attend.

How often do we see a Muslim woman who is intelligent and independent, and has a voice of her own and is career-driven, on American TV?