MEGALYN ECHIKUNWOKE

I tend to play characters that aren't supposed to black or written black.

Besides finding a great place to stay, it's important for me to find at least one cultural destination to visit, other than that, I don't like to plan too much. I like to suss out the situation when I get on the ground and then go!

One thing I am really dying to do, while I'm still young and in shape, is an action movie. I would love to do a Lara Croft type of thing that's really physical and tough. I want to have a gun and do martial arts. I would love to get paid to get into the best shape of my life.

As an actor, you are always looking for something fresh and interesting and not ordinary.

Obviously, there's the seedy side of the strip club world and pole dancing. But, pole dancing, as an art form, is really beautiful. It's been hyper-sexualized because it's associated with strippers, but if you think about it, just in terms of other kinds of dancing, they're using an instrument to create these amazing dance forms.

Every actress hopes to play a wide range of characters because not often you don't.

I definitely am drawn to strong females who are successful, smart women because I am a woman like that. I think it's important to portray those kinds of women on film and television. Especially as a black woman, I think it's important.

I've been to strip clubs where the dancers have these whole routines that they create just for the wow factor and to say, 'Look how strong and physically fit I am.' Most women couldn't do it, and it's not necessarily sexual. It's just a performance.

Once I accidentally left my passport in Nice, France, when I was on my way to Prague. Upon arriving in Vienna, after taking an overnight, and being asked to present my travel documents and realizing I forgot them at the hotel, they kicked me off the train and sent me back!

I definitely am drawn to strong females who are successful, smart women because I am a woman like that. I think it's important to portray those kinds of women on film and television.

I always like an environment where there's lots of women and everyone's different.

You don't know why someone is in a certain circumstance and why they chose to be there. Sometimes it's just about having an experience and learning. I don't think you can begrudge someone that.

We don't want to watch boring characters.

One of my favorite places I've visited is Havana, Cuba. On my way home from Costa Rica, I did a week in Havana. The colors, the music, the beautiful men and the cars! I love vintage and antique cars and own a couple myself.

I wouldn't mind spending six months a year having a private jet take me around the world to visit natural and historical landmarks like the Egyptian pyramids, Mount Kilimanjaro or the Taj Mahal.

I've seen shows on Showtime, and they're very provocative, if you will, but nothing to the point that's over-the-top or gratuitous.

I don't think it's a bad thing to play a character that's not necessarily a super-woman. Even if the character is a little bit stereotypical, as long as the whole story is good and positive, or makes some sort of important statement, I think it's okay. But, on the whole, you can't just do that, especially as a black woman. It's more of a responsibility. You've gotta let the world see black women being successful, strong, smart, with power and who are self-possessed.

I did do a little research. I went to a couple really fantastic strip clubs with really talented dancers, just in terms of their physical prowess. For the scene, there was a whole dance routine that I had to do, so I worked with a pole dance instructor who helped me choreograph a number for that scene. We broke down the principles of pole dancing, for three days, for an hour a day.

If someone said, "Here, you have your pick, you can do either a musical, Moulin Rouge type of movie, where you sing and dance, or an action movie, or a Shakespearian or Elizabethan movie," I would definitely love to do a movie that was based on a musical, where I would get to sing, dance and act, all at the same time.

I'd never gotten to do an accent for anything that I've done, so that was really appealing because I love doing accents. Ever since I was a kid, I made it my business to try to mimic foreign accents, so it was really fun to be able to do that. I was really working on the accent to try to make it really good.

It was fun. I'd never done anything like that. I'd never done any bi-sexual or lesbian scenes before, but it was really fun.

There aren't a lot of roles in period movies for black people. It sucks because I love that era. But, I love musicals. I love the show Glee, and I wouldn't mind being on that either.

It's almost sad that it's something that's just associated with stripping or because someone is slutty. That's really not it. It's actually a really great way to get a work-out and to build upper body strength and to have fan.

I think it's important to see that, as an audience member, because a lot of times you pass judgement on people, right off the bat, depending on whatever they're involved in or the people they surround themselves with, or something like that.

Doing the voice for something [cartoon] requires an enormous amount of energy and you really have to use your whole body. It's cool.