Milana Vayntrub

“I remember what it was like when my parents couldn't help me with my homework because they couldn't speak the language, or being a translator for my parents. I did that a lot.”

“Nobody is powerless.”

“Comedy came early. I knew when I was a kid that I was silly, and I knew that I liked people who were funny, but I don't think I knew I was funny. I didn't really think about it.”

“I did a commercial for a phone company when I was five. But my first big thing was when I was eight. I was on the first season of 'E.R.'”

“Being an immigrant myself, but feeling very American, and also being the child of immigrants, I understand the feeling of wanting a home.”

“You can't say that we need to give women more roles, and then when we do, say that they're only there because men want to look at them.”

“I was three years old, so I actually don't remember much of the refugee process.”

“We all have the power to be influencers.”

“I'm a real nerd for science. I love Neil deGrasse Tyson and 'Cosmos' and all that.”

“I think a lot of Americans forget that they are not originally from here, that somebody in their past was a refugee.”

“The AT&T commercials are the most fun acting opportunity that anyone could ask for. That being said, directing exercises a part of my brain that is really fun that I don't get to try out as an actor.”

“The goal of Can't Do Nothing is to ask people, what matters for you? And whatever it is, what are you doing about it? How bad does it need to get before you take action?”

“My grandmother was a nanny for an Orthodox Jewish family, and she would come home and tell us about that.”

“We're so lucky to take being alive for granted.”

“I think working with kids and seeing how kids are universally children - no matter what you do, they love playing on a bongo and they love drawing and they love playing - that is a great uniter.”

“In the '80s, we were living in the U.S.S.R., where anti-Semitism was a deeply ingrained part of the culture. Being a Jewish person in the Soviet Union was not easy. Not that I remember any of that - I was barely old enough to chew back then - but for my parents, both Uzbekistan-born Jews, life was a struggle.”

“I want to be able to enjoy my life to the fullest so I can add something to the lives of people around me.”

“In August of 1989, we arrived in Los Angeles where we had family. With their help, along with that of Jewish resettlement organizations like HIAS, my parents were set up with jobs.”

“My directing opportunities have been awesome, and my acting opportunities, some have been great and some have not.”

“I'm not really into sci-fi movies, but I'm into the science of space a lot. I love astronomy and thinking about the nothingness of the everythingness of space.”