Star On the Rise

Sounds like you don’t have any anxiety being described as gay, lesbian, or queer. Someone like Amber Heard—she seems like someone who has people telling her to downplay her gayness.
Amber Heard is a tremendous actress and talent. That’s certainly not for me to comment on; I think she’s fabulous. But for myself, I am who I am and I feel comfortable in my skin. I’m a forthright person and I am ambitious and I do hope that I get to do more, interesting work but not at the expense of me not being who I am. Backtracking on who I am, how I define myself, or who I’m in love with, that for me would diminish the quality of my life. Any professional success that came out of that wouldn’t give me true satisfaction.

Who are some actresses that you admire?
Some of my favorite actresses are Cate Blanchett, I love her. I love Zoe Saldana, and Julianne Moore is one of my favorites. I like women who choose diverse roles and have that strength, which I think all women have but some women embrace it, present it, and live in it. Kate Winslet makes really strong, bold choices.

You were recently on the cover of Vogue India. Did that feel like an accomplishment or simply another job?
It was definitely a big accomplishment. I think of myself as an actress now, and that was the last modeling job I’d done. That wasn't deliberate at all; it came out of the blue that they asked me. I worked for them a number of times over the years, but the cover request kind of came out of the blue. I started modeling at a really young age and the cover of Vogue is one of those things that any woman, or most people who have only a cursory knowledge of fashion, recognize and admire. So it did feel significant and I was very honored.

Are you part Indian?
Yes, I am. I'm very diverse, I'm a walking political statement. I'm part Indian and part Nigerian, and then English-Irish.