Self Discovery

Allow that diploma you're receiving today to be a reminder of who you are and what you want. Let it be a guiding light that always brings you back to this day — when you were proud of yourself, when you were at the height of hope.

You cannot dream of becoming something you do not know about. You have to learn to dream big.

People often ask me how I got into acting. The truth is I didn't get into acting. I got into everything.

We think we know what we want, but we often have no idea what we need. Because of that, we often approach life with one goal and end up finding our real purpose along the way.

Not one drop of my self-worth depends on your acceptance of me.

Build your tribe. They will keep you alive.

The Berlin Wall limited my opportunities. It quite literally stood in my way. However, there was one thing which this wall couldn't do. It couldn't impose limits on my inner thoughts. My personality, my imagination, my dreams and desires — prohibitions or coercion couldn't limit any of that.

Nobody wants to be stuck behind a locked door, but nobody wants to live in a hallway either.

When the fear comes from a place of wanting to follow through with a passion, something you believe in — it's real good. If you aren't scared, be worried.

Don't just ask yourself, 'What do I want to do?' Ask yourself: 'Who do I want to be?' Because what you do will never define you. Who you are always will.

In the moment, you don't know how important a story is going to be. In the moment, you don't know if you're fighting because you're right, or if you're fighting because your ego, and your desire to win, and your notion of yourself as the hero in your own story are clouding your judgment.

I was not someone who should have the life I have now, and yet I do. I was sitting in the chair you are literally sitting in right now and I just whispered, 'Why not me?' And I kept whispering it for seventeen years.