“The contrast was incredible.”

I started with ballet and then my cousin Sarah introduced me to her tap teachers.

The process of rehearsal means you learn so much and really get the chance to develop your work on a character.

People do more important jobs than acting in film that should be recognised, but for some reason it’s big money, so people are elevated in status. If I was a bus driver, I’m sure you wouldn’t be interviewing me.

If I could have anyone on speed dial it would be George Clooney. He seems like a cool guy who would give good advice.

The most famous person in my phone is Lindsay Lohan. We starred in ‘Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen’ together in 2004 and we’ve stayed in touch.

This form of dancing can’t be dated, it’s such an intriguing form of dance because the feet are also an an instrument.

I started tapping and I was okay. Then after about two years my feet knew what they were doing!

They think my life is glamourous. It’s not true. I obviously get to come in and do radio interviews. That’s the glamour. But other than that, I eat and sleep and that’s it. Eat, sleep and do shows.

I think ‘Tap Dogs’ has lasted so long because people have a natural interest in tap dancing.

At 15 I auditioned for 42nd Street in Australia. Dein Perry was in that show. I actually got the job but I couldn’t do it because I was only 15. Legally I needed to have another 15-year-old to cover consecutive nights.

During ‘Saturday Night Fever’ at the end of the first act dance number I tried to perform a split-jump

I don’t care if people think I’m gay. I know I’m not, so it doesn’t bother me.

You eventually get used to looking at girls picking their leotards out of their bums and that sort of stuff.

I love travelling, and had the pleasure of being in the most developed country in the world and then parts of two of the most pristine natural areas of the world: the Galapagos islands and the Equador Amazon jungle.

My favorite thing to do is to wind those guys up by hitting on their girlfriends. I say, ‘I think your girlfriend’s gorgeous, but it’s all right, I’m gay.’ They get very nervous after a few minutes!

I do like to keep mementos from my work, whether they be photos, the backs of make-up chairs or even props and clothes.

We all show our true colors eventually – mine is dark and firesome red. I bet I burned you. I don’t expect to see you soon.

Above the clouds the sky is always blue.

A song should have all the color and beauty of every rose.

It’s not just that I’m a woman of color running for office. It’s the way that I ran. It’s the way that my identity formed my methods.

We do not want the men of another color for our brothers-in-law, but we do want them for our brothers.

I finished a big book the other day. 421 pages. That’s a lot of coloring when you think about it.

She trusted her inner strength with the colors of gratitude and patience.

You are the sun. Soft yellow. Beaming flames. Gentle and fierce all at once.