I think it's good to conquer the fears.
There are a lot of times where, filming 'It Follows,' I'm fighting against a guy dressed in a green suit for special effects, and I'm just like, 'No. There's no way this is going to be pulled off.'
Before acting took off, I was a professional kiteboarder training for the world circuit; with a sporting activity, you have to be determined, and it taught me to have a thick skin, which came in use after going to so many auditions and being told 'no.'
I've cracked my head open before; I've had some great injuries. So I have to do it on the side now. I cracked my head open kiting before a competition in New Caledonia. The water was shallow, and I missed a trick and hit my head on a rock.
My goal is to continue to act and still be a professional kiteboarder.
I don't look at myself as a Scream Queen, and I don't plan on continuing on this genre route. If anything, I want to go very different places.
To this day, I haven't seen 'Jaws.' Because I was always in the ocean, when I was a kid, my mom said, 'See the movies that you want to, but I'm telling you, do not ever see Jaws.'
I have my own past and my own personality. I'm going to relate to the material in a completely different way than somebody else might.
I think it's really good to get the adrenaline pumping.
With kiting, you have to land a trick, and in that instant you know whether you won or lost - I knew I could become the best in the world if I trained. But with acting, there are different variations; there's not a right or wrong way. It's so hard because it's so out of your hands. I have no idea what's going to happen!
My dad took me to see James Brown live, and that's so cool, cause I don't think many people my age can say they saw James Brown. I'm pretty proud of that. That's the thing about me that no one really knows. I had to have been 6 or 7, but I remember it vividly.
For me, I grew up doing kiteboarding where no girls are doing it, and you had to prove yourself. You just had to know that you could do it, too. It's the mentality you had to have to make it. I work hard like anyone else.
I'm lucky because I remember my dad showing me 'Independence Day,' and I loved it.
My dad showed me loads of films when I was young, but I never thought I would be in movies. That didn't seem like a real job to me.
I'm a huge fan of the first 'Independence Day.' It is amazing. When it came out in 1995, just how explosive and big it was... I loved it.
I have to say, working with Dan Stevens in 'The Guest' and seeing his transformation was incredible. Also Kate Winslet. Off set, she's loud and sweary, but when she walks on set, she has this calmness and is so centred.
They have so many great horror movies made in the '80s. I mean, the old-school horror is so good.
In the Dominican Republic, my mom and I lived in this little tiny town called Cabarete, which is very poor.
Cape Town, South Africa, was pretty incredible. That's probably the coolest place I have ever been, and the kiteboarding is insane there. It's so windy, so you can get massive air.
I have a weird thing with knives. I don't like knives very much. Like when my parents are cooking in the kitchen and using knives to chop vegetables, I can't be in the same room. For whatever reason, knives just terrify me.
My grandma passed away from cancer, and actually, when I was 18, I had an experience with melanoma - it's in the family. I had that experience where everything comes into perspective. It's the weirdest thing, 'cause you're like, 'It will never happen to me,' and when it does, it's like, 'OK, wow.'
When I was living in the Dominican Republic, the local kids became a part of my family.
I'd really love to work with Quentin Tarantino. There's so many people that I'd love to work with, but there's something about Quentin, and one of my all-time favorite films is 'Kill Bill.' Something along those lines would be such a blast.
At about 17, I decided I wanted to take kiteboarding seriously and compete, so my agents were like, 'Just keep sending in a few audition tapes anyway, just for good stuff.'
I like challenges. I think that's important.
I wasn't thinking that I was two horrors back to back; I was thinking these were characters that I want to play.
I'm an only child, and we're a close family.
Surprisingly, I am great at kiteboarding, but I'm not great at surfing.
I grew up watching horror movies with my dad. For as long as I can remember. I grew up loving being terrified. 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' at sleepovers. Hiding behind my fingers.
'The Shining,' 'A Nightmare on Elm Street,' 'Halloween.' Those are the greats.
A lot of times, I'll get roles where it's the dumb blonde or the cheerleader, and I just have no interest - and it can be a great movie, it really can - or the mean girl; those things don't intrigue me much.
There's a lot of garbage, and then there are those ones that just stand out so incredibly. You fight for those roles; you do everything in your power to get it.
My dad taught me to kiteboard when I was 13, and around the same time, I happened to just fall into being an extra on a set and fell in love with acting and making movies.
It would be incredible to work with Stanley Kubrick and go back in time.
For me, it's first about the characters. I look for a character who is intriguing and challenging and different from what I've done before.
I think a superhero would be awesome to play.
I remember reading 'The Guest' and thinking, 'This is going to be something!'
It's really cool to be able to do both. I get a chance to be in this film with these amazing actors, the coolest people ever, and I try to kiteboard as much in my free time as I can.
All my Dominican friends live in an area called Los Venaga. Their houses are shacks. They'd invite us over to dinner, and we'd sit in plastic chairs on the dirt inside a house.
I'd never thought of horror as being so challenging, but it is.
You go to see movies to feel something, and being terrified - there's something so fun about that.
I started kite boarding when I was 13. My dad was a kite boarder, and I begged him to teach me until he finally agreed. He made me wait because it can be dangerous.
I grew up in the indie world, and that's what I'm used to, but there's something really incredible about having money behind a film and having the time to do as many takes as you want.
It's awesome when people respond to your movie and love it.
There are definitely scripts I start reading, where it doesn't interest me. Maybe it'll be a good movie, but the character doesn't intrigue me.
It goes without saying that it's important to vote.
With a project like 'The 5th Wave,' you do something you would never do in your normal life; I would never have had S.W.A.T. training or boot camp, and there's something really cool about learning stuff like that that's really fun about our job.
It fell into my lap. I grew up doing dance classes. And one day, a film production company contacted my dance school looking for background dancers. I wasn't looking for it. It just happened. And I found myself on set. And that was that.
Stick up for what you believe in and never, ever feel that you can't say something or speak your mind. I think that would be the best advice. Be strong. Be confident. That's really all you need.
