I have always been drawn to the things that make us human. The tender, complicated, sometimes painful parts of ourselves that we carry sometimes quietly, sometimes not, fascinate me.

Growing up as an oil industry "brat," I moved every two years, always the new kid, always learning how to find my place. That childhood gave me a heightened awareness of behavior and deep empathy for people. What I came to understand is that the desire to belong is something we all share, no matter how different our stories. Early on, I found my home in the theater, where for the first time I felt truly seen and have never looked back.

As an actress and a writer, I am drawn to characters who are beautifully flawed. Characters who are neither villains nor heroes, but something far more interesting and human. I believe those are the characters who touch us most, because they show us ourselves without judgment. My deepest hope is that audiences leave the theater with that sudden, unexpected feeling of being known.

An unexpected discovery through 23andMe forced me to confront questions of family and belonging in ways I never imagined. Out of that vulnerable, difficult reckoning came Sharp Curves. As a writer, I needed to share what I was feeling and living through because I knew in my heart that others were feeling it too. Shared experience is at the center of everything I write.