“…if you do theater in Colombia you’ll die from hunger. Now I’m living in New York City. It’s changed my whole point of view on everything. Being independent, having a little apartment, cooking. In Colombia you live with your parents until you’re twenty-five and get a job and then get married.”

“In Colombia, in all of the soap operas, there’s a beauty queen, a model and the guy lead is from Ecuador or Peru or Venezuela, but not from Colombia. People like to see on the screen tall, skinny, beautiful models with blond or black hair who dress sexy. The way I dress and the way maybe I am, they didn’t like me.”

“I don’t want to just stereotype me like a big-drama Latin woman. I don’t want to be this exaggerated Latin woman - just like that. Because Latins have the horrible stereotype - they’re sexy, they’re beautiful and we can put her in a bikini. I don’t want to do that thing. I want to be a different Latin.”

“Strasberg showed me that there is more than one method. If you have trouble with a character you can use a method. I didn’t like the method so I don’t consider myself a method actress. I don’t believe you can have a recipe on how to act.”

“I’ve heard of actors that give a better performance just for their close-up and I won’t do that because it’s ridiculous.”

“Hollywood has great movies and bad movies, so I can’t just say I’m afraid to be in Hollywood. I’ve been having such good luck, and I have good people that can advise me on projects. I think I’m well-taken care of, and I shouldn’t be scared. Of course, I’m not scared. You just have to do what you really want to do.”

On Maria Full of Grace … “I think you use method when you’re in trouble with a character. Not being prepared in New York for what would happen to our characters in Maria Full of Grace made us imagine and discover.”

“Yeah, I swallowed 8 pellets through the whole movie. And it was as scary as it looks. The fear that I have in that scene, it was a real fear. I didn’t act.”

“It’s the story of this girl and at the end of the movie she’s a woman.”

On Colombia … “I lived in Bogotá for 21 years, and nobody ever robbed me. I have nothing related to drugs, like none of my friends were involved with drugs, none of them have been robbed. So it’s pretty crazy. In a lot of place in Colombia of course you find violence, but the rest of Colombia is not like that. In Bogotá I feel safe.”

On Theater … “I love theater. Theater is the most amazing thing ever. I want to keep learning and I think that by doing as much theater as I can, it will make me a better actress for film.”