My first job was... At 14 I was a cashier at Silver Bell Veggie World on Dominion Rd. I had to learn the difference between all the varieties of bok choy, pack up 100-year-old pickled, rotten eggs from a big barrel, and weigh pistachios. I always came home with shells in my pockets - from the nuts, not the eggs!
It taught me... about varieties of food that I'd never been exposed to before - sesame sweet dumplings, pickled plums, red bean paste. I learned that the quickest way to experience a culture is through food and I loved working at Silver Bell for that reason.
My big break… was probably when I got cast in my first feature film, No. 2. I was a couple of years out of drama school, and in that job I was surrounded by talented, gorgeous, intelligent brown people, including the writer and director Toa Fraser, who eventually became the father of my own gorgeous intelligent brown children! That film won the Audience prize at Sundance that year, with incredible American Civil Rights leader Ruby Dee playing the matriarch.
The last job I quit was... I don't think I've ever quit a job! Have I? I don't think so. But I do have very clear boundaries when it comes to my work, especially since having children. I love my work, but it has to be worth it financially, spiritually and experientially, if I'm going to be away from my children.
The most famous person I've ever met is... I was in a scene with Peter O'Toole once. He told me I had a very pretty nose.
