Amanda Schull quotes:

I think that's it's really important to have good friends. Nowadays, you can text 24 hours a day and be in constant contact, but every once in a while, it's nice to just get out with your girlfriends and have fun.

I love to work. I know that sounds ridiculous to say because all people love to work, but I love the homework that goes into acting. I love figuring out different ways of playing a scene. I love the energy of being on set. I love not getting enough sleep because I have to wake up early in the morning.

Nicholas Hytner, who directed Center Stage, is a huge ballet fan. He was completely open, as was Bruce Beresford, to get our perspective. "No, we wouldn't do this. Yes, we would do that. That's not realistic." So, I feel like Center Stage did well in that respect.

I'm a really good cook. I bake a lot. I cook dinner most nights. I cook everything from Italian food to Mexican food. But if I'm going to some place and it's a potluck, I'm always the one to bring dessert!

What a person feels within themselves and about themselves radiates from them. Trust me, I have worked with people - both men and women - who are not what most would consider conventionally attractive, but who exude such a magnetism about them that people are compelled to watch them on stage or screen.

Center Stage focused on the drive and what it's like to be a student, and this is what it's like to be an adult and what you need to give up in the pursuit of that passion and that focus.

The worst beauty advice that I have ever taken has been from people who have told me that sunscreen isn't necessary. Not true!

It's hard with ballet because your aesthetic really is important. It's different from acting and from film. Nobody wants to watch somebody who is sickly thin. And it's interesting because I have danced with people who are ill, have eating disorders, and a light goes off within them.

I take ballet class as often as possible - up to 5 times a week - and try to go to the gym on the days that I don't take class. I also do a floor barre/Pilates mat class almost everyday.

I think one of the big challenges about science fiction is finding truth to relate to as an actor.

In order to dance professionally, you have to start at a young age. No matter what, your muscle structure and your bones have to be groomed from a very young age. Nobody wakes up at 17 and decides to become a ballet dancer.

I think it would be fair to say that most female dancers have dealt with, whether it's an extreme, or minor complex in eating disorders. So the first thing I would say to girls who are feeling that way is you're not alone. You're far from alone. You're the majority. There's absolutely nothing wrong with what you're feeling.

A lot of professional dancers become professional when they turn 15 or 16 years old, when they're still children. So you've trained every single waking moment up until that point for a career that could maybe only last 10 years, maybe longer if your body holds up, if your injuries are kept at bay.

Acting is fascinating to me. I love unlocking the mysteries with characters and finding out what would be the most intriguing aspect of that character to exist in. Figuring out a person and getting to be a different person every day, hey - that's pretty lucky. I don't have to wake up and be Amanda if I don't feel like it. You know, that's fun.

As a dancer, I know couples that have stayed married but separated to dance on different continents. Dance in general, but ballet in particular, is such a finite career. You can't do it later in life, and it's something that I think a dancer has to have some selfishness to fulfill.

Every dancer has injuries, and your injury could happen that season that you were getting that one part that you've wanted to do your whole career. So you have to appreciate every single moment until it happens.

The second time I was banned was when I directed a film called Xiu Xiu. I was banned for three years from China.

I enjoyed acting growing up; I did musical theater. I had a secret desire to be a television and movie actress, but it wasn't something I admitted to myself that I wanted to do, I guess.

Acting for screen is very different from acting on stage, and then obviously when you dance... everything is a physical embodiment. But the discipline is the same approach. You have to take both things seriously; nothing well-crafted is by mistake.

Science fiction is one of the smartest genres around because you have to have so much forethought.

Every time I get a script in my inbox, it's like a little Christmas present. It's so exciting to see what they've cooked up.

In high school ethics, they went around and asked what everyone thought their classmates were qualified to do. For me, everyone said actress. But to me it was very much 'if it happens, it happens.'

I came to the United States in 1981 as a student.When I left, I was totally the most beloved little flower in China and so it was an outrage basically.

That being said, I am not one to feel sorry for myself. I believe it is healthy to honor one's feelings and do the best we can to learn and grow from them moving forward.

In high school ethics, they went around and asked what everyone thought their classmates were qualified to do. For me, everyone said actress. But to me it was very much if it happens, it happens.

It gets better. It gets so much easier to be in your skin no matter what size that skin is. If you do something that you're good at and that makes you happy, that's the best outlet that I could ever suggest to anybody....if you are able to just enjoy who you are, and if you can learn to love who you are, then you'll just be a much happier person.

I think one of my biggest lessons so far in life is that hard work really does pay off. It may not culminate in the way you expected it to, but I have found that when I really put my head down and apply myself, I often get a good result.

I think people don't often realize how much goes into being a male dancer. It's athletic and it's hard. It's not just men wearing tights, or wanting to be around women.

I am a huge animal lover. Growing up, my mother and I rescued countless animals - dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, even a turtle. I have been accused of caring more about animals than I do about people.

For the first four years of my studying in the U.S., I couldn't go home for two reasons. One is I was afraid that if I left my student visa may not hold and I wouldn't be able to come back to continue. Second, there was this big outrage in China that I didn't know how to face the public.

I would remind people on the planet that this is the only one we have, and we need to take care of it.

Stage performance is obviously a much grander sort of depiction. The audience isn't right in your face as close as a camera lens gets.

I have different routines for different types of chaos. When I find myself swamped with work and surrounded by people, I try to carve out time to walk my dog alone so I can organize my thoughts.

I also have a routine with breathing and visualization techniques that I go through when I feel overwhelmed or nervous.

I know that there is absolutely good in the world.

Love for me is comfort. I feel most loved and most capable of giving love when I am around people or in places that make me comfortable.

I give myself a Pilates/yoga hybrid mat class almost every day. I also continue to take ballet classes. Both of these practices help me to be aware of my body, my center, and how I move, both with my physical space and my mental space.

I also use that centering process I mentioned as a way to focus my mind and connect it to my physical body. I feel that when we are aware of our physical bodies, we become more aware of how we exist on the earth and more considerate of others with whom we share the earth.

I think there is a wonderful trend of strong female characters on television right now.

I love the process of creating a character; someone entirely different from myself, and depicting it, either on stage or screen.

I think the idea of embodying the physical presence of a character is the same on stage and screen. There are just different levels of expression to keep in mind for each platform.

The work that I have been doing on television has been important to me because I have had the opportunity to portray very strong, intelligent women. It has been such a privilege to depict a woman that is independent, unapologetic, and resilient on both shows.

When I am confronted with emotional pain, I try to allow myself the time to properly grieve. We are caring, emotional beings, and attempting to suppress pain will only cause it to negatively manifest itself in other ways.

You never want to be pigeonholed into something and have people think, "Oh, that's the guy we call for this particular thing."

You don't want to burn any bridges, but you also want to make sure you leave your character bridges wide open and you're never seen as one particular thing, or that's who you'll be, unfortunately, for the rest of your career.

I wouldn't necessarily consider myself the typical sci-fi genre fan. I do have a lot of sci-fi shows that I enjoy, but I wouldn't call it my favorite genre of all.

I left home at 14 and I have friends who joined the navy and the army performing troops at 9. I know people [like that]. It's a very straightforward character.

When I first came USA, I didn't feel this was my home. This was where I was studying, and then my home was now rejecting me.

Usually you read a script and you know somebody who knows somebody who maybe knew that person or met them once.

When I was in high school, my mom gave me a paperweight. It was when I was going through my 'not that interested in doing homework or really working on anything' phase and the paperweight said "If you're not the lead dog, the view never changes." And that's sort of the same thing, if you're not always working to be in the front.

I think much of my inspiration comes from nature. I feel alive when I take a long hike with my dog or when I just spend time outdoors, appreciating the beauty of this world. I even feel alive and inspired when I walk through farmers markets appreciating and learning about local fruits and vegetables.

I feel vulnerable when I am underprepared. This applies to underpreparedness with just about anything, especially work.

I would remind people on the planet that this is the only one we have, and we need to take care of it. I would want people to truly consider what we do and how we treat the earth, the ecosystems, and animals we share it with, and think about the legacy we want to leave behind.

You never know where your next job is going to lead you, down the road. One single episode that might seem so far removed from what you might end up doing in the future might spark somebody's memory bank. Just one little line you said or a look you gave might be what they want to pursue with a character.