I come from a theater background, so usually, at the start, you know what happens and where the character goes and everything. But with TV, it's really unpredictable.

Thinking back on it, I just really didn't have very many role models to look up to when it came to Asian actresses. And in that way, when I would see an Asian onscreen, it would be a secondary-type thing, and that's kind of how I ended up viewing myself in the world: as secondary.

When I think back on high school, I always tried to make silly videos with my friends.

I was kind of an obnoxious kid. I would imitate Celine Dion. I would jump around and belt to the rafters and do the accent and everything.

I really loved to sing all the time, and I was constantly entertaining. Finally, my dad saw an article in the local newspaper in Phoenix, and it was for a children's theater, an audition for 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.'

I'm actually more German than Scottish. I'm half-Japanese, 25 percent German, 12 percent Scottish, and 12 percent Irish.