Uzo Aduba was always a "precocious" child.
The Orange is the New Black’ actress – who is best known for playing Suzanne ‘Crazy Eyes’ Warren in the Netflix drama – showed an interest in acting from a young age thanks to her imagination and creativity.
She told Britain’s Marie Claire magazine: "I’ve been pretty precocious since I was a kid.
"I had a huge imagination and would try and turn that into a reality.
"During my teenage years, my group of friends was quite diverse, as I had so many hobbies.
"Between 12 and 18, I was into sport, as well as being in the drama club and the chess club.
"I was always interested in people and learning more about them, and I guess acting really is a study of people."
Uzo grew up in a small town in Massachusetts but always dreamed of living in New York, so she’s excited to have finally set down roots in the Big Apple.
She said: "I’m doing [my house] up at the moment and feeling this great relief as I’m so happy with it.
"My roots have been permanently put down in New York.
"As a kid, I always dreamed of here.
"I remember being so taken with the lights and movement of the city, as it’s so different to where I’m from, which really is in the middle of the sticks.
"I know it’s cheesy but it just feels like dreams come true."
The 32-year-old actress got her big break in ‘Orange is the New Black’ and can remember how she knew it was an instant hit, even though she was isolated in a remote part of Utah.
She recalled: "There was no internet or phone signal anywhere [apart from my cabin]. At the end of the day, I checked my Twitter and it was like, ‘You have 5,000 new followers’ I only had about 100 at that point.
"I just thought a tweet I’d sent the day before must have been really popular."