You never think about someone dressing up as you for Halloween.
Shannon Purser
Mental health affects every aspect of your life. It's not just this neat little issue you can put into a box.
The most evil and insidious thing about mental illness is that it isolates us and makes us feel so different that we think no one can possibly relate.
I've found beauty in such unexpected places. I think the most beautiful thing you can do is be yourself and to own it.
People will send me pictures of T-shirts with my face on it and it's nothing that I ever would've imagined in a million years as a kid.
It's always been important to me to do work that I'm proud of and be part of stories that I'm proud of, so being on a popular show was never really the goal.
I love the nostalgic feel of the '80s and, oh, I love Winona Ryder so much. I was such a huge fan of hers growing up, so breathing the same air as her was an honor for sure.
Acting isn't always about the amount of talent you have, or your ability to cry on command. The point is, how well can you take direction? How well can you put aside your own ideas or ego and listen to the ideas of the director and the people above you, while not giving up the passion and drive of that character?
I think people need a little light and a little happiness in their lives.
I grew up in a house with all girls, so I'm used to having a lot of hormones around that can create craziness.
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!
Everyone has been an outcast at one point in their life.
I was into this one guy that was like, punk and cool and rock 'n roll. So I went out and bought black high top Converse.
I feel like, especially in Hollywood, you meet people with ulterior motives, who are trying to get something from you.
I feel that responsibility to really be authentic with people because I think that's what they deserve, especially in a time when it's very easy for people in the public eye to sort of cultivate an image.
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 didn't even have a career before 'Stranger Things' - it was my first acting job, my first time on a professional set, and my character wasn't even supposed to be a big deal - it all just exploded.
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 would definitely love to see a queer rom-com because representation matters. It does so much to help normalize things in the mind of society.
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.
Technology is a double-edged sword for sure. You can use it to get in touch with somebody, to get to know somebody, to have really meaningful conversations, or you can use it to hurt and bully people.
I did have an emo phase. It was sort of like armor for me.
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.
That's what I love about movies and TV: You can go anywhere any time and be whoever you want.
A lot of times, gay characters are represented in unrealistic or stereotypical ways.
I was about 15 when I decided that acting was what I wanted to pursue professionally.
When you're on stage, you're playing to whoever is in the back of the room, and TV and film is so much more detailed and nuanced, but I think that's what I always wanted to do. As much as I love theater and musical theater and would love to do it again, I really love the subtleties of film and theater acting.
It's just as important to be a good human being as it is to be a good actor.
I was definitely always the bigger girl and kind of weird. I didn't make friends very easily and I was a big reader, so I was very antisocial, and I knew that people were judging me.
As I got into high school I sort of came into my own and gained some confidence and, luckily, wasn't really bullied by others.
My existence in Hollywood is a political statement, because there are so few women who are plus-sized or above a size 6.
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.
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 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.
I think we take our friends for granted a lot in high school. We're so busy worrying about our own problems that we ignore the fact that we have these people who are supporting us and taking care of us like all the time.
There's this book that I love called 'Eleanor & Park.' It's an incredible story about these two misfit kids who fall in love. I've loved that book for years and I'd be so thrilled if I got to be in an adaptation of that.
I've been a huge Winona Ryder fan for a while. I'm one of four girls, so there are four sisters, so we used to watch 'Little Women' seriously, maybe once a month.
I totally am dorky and weird, and that's fine with me.
As I got older, I fell more in love with movies and thought it would be incredible to someday be in one.
Being on set is just a unique and surreal experience, and it's one I always dreamed about having. And then I had it.
Everybody has had that experience where your friend drags you to a party because the person they're crushing on is there, and you don't really want to be there but you go there with them anyway.
Such a big part of acting is getting your face out there and getting recognized.
I don't know why, but I'm more intimidated by sharing my singing than just performing as an actress.
When I was a little kid, I used to get in trouble a lot for lying. Being raised religious, I believed that lying was sinful, so I felt guilty.
I was diagnosed with OCD and depression, and that was a huge relief, because now my struggles had a name and could be reckoned with. With a combination of therapy and medication, I got better. I learned to love life again. My problems didn't go away, but they became much easier to face.
Specifically, my time in therapy has changed my life. It was such a relief to have a trained professional listen to my thoughts and help me positively restructure my thinking.
I've been singing since I was a little kid, but 'Sierra' was my first time singing on camera, which was definitely intimidating at first.
I love to sing.
I think the media in general hasn't been very kind to fat women or fat people. We see so many insensitive portrayals of plus-sized people. That kind of stuff really affected me - not even necessarily the portrayal of fat people, but the absence of fat people.
With 'Stranger Things' especially, I couldn't expect the show to become what it was, and I definitely didn't expect the whole Barb thing to become what it was.
