Amanda Schull

“When 'Center Stage' first came out, I had some little girls on an airplane who didn't want to actually talk to me but wanted to talk about me at the top of their lungs. And they took pictures of me while I was sleep. And you know what's the worst part? I get really, really airsick.”

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

“I've been lucky in that all my roles have been unique and interesting.”

“I think that, like any kind of career, there are many different people involved in the ballet world.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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 take a lot of notes. Maybe it's a product of me taking so many notes, but I have a pretty good memory for episodes, and some of the other actors will ask me questions about things, so I have this sense of responsibility that I have to be the one to remember some of the details.”

“There is this idea of a perfect dance body - which I don't have. I'm lucky that I'm not the exact opposite of the ideal, but I don't have amazing feet, perfect hyperextension, or really flexible legs.”

“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.”

“As people grow and evolve, we still are the experiences that we had in our childhood, but they shape us in different ways.”

“It's a very insular world, ballet. I feel if I had stayed much longer, it would've consumed me. I performed six days a week and rehearsed 10-plus hours a day. And you only see the people that you work with.”

“I'm always ballet ready.”

“If it isn't necessary I would rather not subject my skin to too much, so if I don't have anything special to do for the day, I try not to wear any make up.”

“I have this ridiculous chip on my shoulder, having been a dancer, that I feel like I really ought to be able to do everything myself - but there are some things I very clearly cannot.”

“I would never mess around with braids and curls and everything.”

“I went to Indiana University for college for a couple of years, where I double majored in dance and journalism, and after my sophomore year there, I went to the San Francisco Ballet school for the summer, but then they offered me a scholarship to stay for the year.”

“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.”

“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.”