Hari Nef

“People make fun of me because I've been known to eat lunch things for breakfast. I'll eat a good salad. I'll maybe have some tempeh or kale in there. I try to make breakfast a lavish meal because, one, my body tells me to, and, two, that's what carries me through the day.”

“I always think I look dead, but I never actually do.”

“I would like to produce, and eventually, I would like to direct.”

“When I don't wear makeup, it's not because I'm lazy, but it's me making this radical bid for the feminization of my body and being confident in that.”

“When it comes to modeling, I always feel like my body is a myth or a story that is told by other people, and no one knows what my body really looks like.”

“If we didn't desensitize ourselves in some way, every day would feel like its own tragedy.”

“Fashion gave me my start, and that will always be my home. I'll always be so grateful for all my collaborators and friends I've made there, but I'm so excited to dive head first into just being a working actor.”

“I want to play Lady Macbeth. I have a big chip on my shoulder about Lady Macbeth. People usually play her as this cold, Greek witch, but there's no evidence of that in the text! I think her intentions are pure.”

“I don't want the same trans story to be told over and over again. I don't want people to get stuck on this very western idea of what it means to be transgender.”

“Leaving the house in a pair of flip-flops in Manhattan is disgusting to me, no shade.”

“I get a facial maybe a couple of times a year.”

“My first boyfriend was a fashion designer. He was a junior in high school, I was a freshman.”

“I had family who exposed me to all sorts of different media involving actors - films, theatrical productions touring through Boston. My grandparents, particularly my mother's parents, were huge fans of all the arts, and they took me to these shows and exhibits at a very young age, so I was just immersed in it.”

“If I get too glam and polished and pretty, people are like, 'Hari, why aren't you speaking up about issues?' And if I start speaking up about issues, people are like, 'Why can't you just be an actress?'”

“Expectations are kind of lethal for art, I think.”

“I liked playing video games because I felt like I was inside of the story in a way that I didn't feel when I was just watching something. Any chance I could get to step into the shoes of another person, I would take. I couldn't get enough of stories.”

“If my body can fall into the background for just a second, maybe people will start listening to what I have to say.”

“My identity will always inform my experience and shape my perception. But I am an unremarkable person.”

“I like to let my skin breathe, I don't like to stress it out. I don't like to put it through very much.”

“I'm a much better actor as a girl than I was as a guy.”