Barrett Wilbert Weed

“We have to train our kids better and really enforce in them that no matter what mainstream media and pop culture and all of the terrible things around us say - that it's OK to tear people down, that somehow it will make you feel better, and it's OK to gossip about people - it won't make you feel better.”

“I remember, when I saw the movie of 'Cabaret,' I was amazed by Liza Minnelli: like, 'Wow, that kind of looks like someone I could be similar to.'”

“I think it's really important for young audiences to see that you don't have to apologize for being angry when you're angry, and you don't have to apologize for standing up for yourself when people are pushing you around.”

“I think it's important to be friends with the person you have to kiss onstage in front of a hundred people. You might not be friends in real life - especially if you're in high school - but you need to at least be 'secret friends' for it to work. Try to be comfortable with each other.”

“My high school was the closest thing to hell on earth that exists. I was around a lot of ultra-preppy, very mean-spirited girls, and they were very cruel to me. I ended up switching schools and going to this performing arts school near Boston called Walnut Hill.”

“There are good musicals that came from movies, like 'Shrek' and 'Legally Blonde!' But, um... they should never mess with 'The Hunger Games.'”

“A lot of the times, what girls go through when they're growing up gets minimized. 'Mean Girls' marked the first time I saw teenage female aggression articulated well and with importance.”

“One of the things that I love so much about the character of Sally Bowles is that she is such a huge character - she is so roomy.”

“All you can really do is try to be a good person and try to make good decisions and try to survive.”

“I wound up going to the Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Natick, which was a really life-changing experience that's still the most intense working environment I've ever been part of. Even now, as a professional actor, I've never once been held to the standards I was held to at my high school.”

“My insane mascara layering is my private homage to Winona Ryder's amazing peepers.”

“I'm not able to change the tools that I bring to the table. I've tried to fade into the background many times, and I just can't do it.”

“For me, in my auditioning career and my professional life, since I am kind of a big person and since I have a big personality, I often find myself trying to squeeze myself into boxes that are really too small for me, and it ends up not working out.”

“My senior year, I got to play Maureen in 'Rent,' and I had more fun than I'd ever had in my life.”