Hannah Simone Quotes

The letters I really love are from young actresses who were worried they had to fit a certain look. They say I've opened it up. And I don't just mean plus-size girls. You can push things now. With all the great performances in 'Bridesmaids', it changed how people see funny women.

We try and give as much diversity to our show as possible. That's something that's very strong in our show: there are so many strong female leads in 'The 100.'

It's great to know that young black girls are seeing themselves on TV as leading ladies, and I'm part of that. It's just such an honor.

I always love where I can plug a black woman in anywhere, and when that comes up, I don't say, 'Oh that has to be a black woman.' I say, 'Why not a black woman?'

It's very limited what women who look like me can do on television. You don't often see 'my type' on television unless she's a sidekick - certainly not a three-dimensional series regular who is pertinent to the plot.

You can have Asians being leading men that are sex symbols. You can have leading women powering through.

Latinos, Asians, African-Americans, women - we're all trying to find our place in this world of cinema and television and theater. And the great thing with comedy is that most of the time, you could be orange. It doesn't matter, as long you're funny.

There are so many brilliant women on television right now.

Ultimately, when I deliver something, a lot of times it will be from a black woman's perspective, but other times it will be just from a satirical, goofy perspective.

It's not often that a strong female role comes across one's desk, unfortunately, but it's getting better.

When I see other working actresses that are brown, I get so excited. I get so excited when I see Zoe Kravitz, Janelle Monae, Taraji P. Henson, Ava Duvernay, and all these beautiful women working.

People are getting tired of the same material; they want to see black girls as leads in movies. And I happen to be lucky enough to understand that - and be able to grab that opportunity and run with it.

Iris is the Lois Lane of 'The Flash.' It's a really special role. Knowing they were willing to offer it to an African American - Iris is traditionally white - I knew how important this would be for so many people.

People want to see real women on screen.

People are always asking me if the industry is changing, and my answer is always that it is changing only as much as we are. Many South Asian actors complain about being pigeonholed into playing terrorists and cab drivers, but it's time that we stop talking about it. The industry will always say 'No' till we have enough to convince them.

I think in general, and in the film industry, that idea of having only one type of girl is changing. There's more variety because it's the world we live, and we want to portray that.

When I was growing up, I wanted to see girls like me on television and in movies - strong girls who aren't crying over their relationships or whatever.

We need to have more conversations about representation as well as the imbalance in terms of needing more women behind the camera and in front of the camera, and the diversity factor.

I prefer to avoid the phrase 'strong women' when talking about female characters and the lack thereof or the need therefore, because it's not about being strong, it's also about being vulnerable, funny etc.

At age 10, or even 15, it would have meant the world to me to see a Pakistani girl portrayed positively, let alone as a comic book superhero.

I'm extremely proud I'm an Asian female and I'm on television, because there aren't many of us.

The most amazing thing for me is when I open up a magazine and I see someone I could be friends with and looks, maybe, slightly like me. And I think that's the same with young girls. Because there needs to be diversity.

I think that is a really good message, especially for young girls to hear. The fact that someone like me from the western suburbs of Sydney could become an actress in movies who didn't look like a regular actress, and that I can make it I think gives a lot of hope to other girls who are really creative and don't necessarily follow the standard of what some people consider beauty to be.

It's great we have a female Thor. It's great we have a black Captain America. But those are just optics; it's optics of change... Unless you have the structural diversity, the structural change behind the scenes - more women, more people of color actually calling the shots and editing these books - those optics won't last.

We're moving away from the one-dimensional nature for women. It used to be that you were known for one thing - a cultural thing, the way you walk, talk or look. Now everybody is allowed to be a layer cake.