SHANNON PURSER

I was always taller than every other boy my age. So, whenever there was one boy who was taller than me I was like, 'Yes. He's the one.' Even if he definitely wasn't.

The idea that I get to kind of redefine what is beautiful and whose story deserves to be told and showcase that you know, big women have love lives and complex colorful lives like everybody else, that's really important to me.

I just think about little me - what it would have meant to me to see a chubby girl in movies and a big girl get the guy and be the princess, be the hero. I think that would've really changed a lot for me.

Playing the nerd isn't necessarily the most ego-boosting role.

I think there were so many times that I just felt so overwhelmed by school and by my relationships with my friends and I felt like I was going to be stuck in high school forever and I was never going to achieve my dreams.

I think temptation is ever present to become something that you think is more socially acceptable.

I'm pretty introverted and I spend a lot of time in books, a lot of time thinking and by myself, because that's what I enjoy to recharge.

I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety several years ago, so it's something I've been battling most of my life.

I didn't get recognized a whole lot at first, but all of a sudden it just started happening. People would look at me out of the corner of their eye, deciding whether or not they were going to come up to me!

Sierra' is me being a plus-size woman.

I watch Jimmy Fallon all the time. I think he's hilarious.

As fun as it is to be the nerdy best friend. I'm capable of more than that, and I feel that I have emotions to share, and there are roles I can add something to. I just hope there are other people who are willing to take that chance on me and let me tell their stories.

I'm always going to love Barb and I'm always going to be grateful to 'Stranger Things' and for the incredible opportunity I've had.

I totally am dorky and weird, and that's fine with me.

It's just as important to be a good human being as it is to be a good actor.

The '80s weren't perfect and people made some questionable fashion choices but in terms of music and movies, it was revolutionary and wonderful.

My existence in Hollywood is a political statement, because there are so few women who are plus-sized or above a size 6.

At some point, I stumbled across an article about OCD. As I read, I was blown away by how identical the writer's description was to what I was experiencing. It was overwhelmingly comforting to finally realize that I wasn't alone and that nothing was wrong with me. It was a treatable disorder.

I don't know why, but I'm more intimidated by sharing my singing than just performing as an actress.

Some of the best relationships I had in high school were not romantic - they were with my best girlfriends.

There's such a stigma around mental illness, and this idea that you're going to come off as disturbed or weak somehow by being open about these things. I've never felt embarrassed or shy talking about it; it's such an integral part of my life.

I didn't really have a normal high school experience. I was home-schooled and went to a co-op, so basically a school with about maybe 200 other home-schooled kids that would come together for classes.

I do think technology really has changed the way that we communicate with each other and texting can be the way to communicate and to kind of get up the nerve to say things that maybe you wouldn't say in real life, but that also comes with a price.

I don't have a typical body type, and that used to be something that made me feel very alone and weird.

You don't have to be the next Einstein. You can just be you, and that's more than good enough.