Taylor Schilling was "born rogue".
The 'Orange is the New Black' actress' parents divorced when she was young and didn't get along, so she had a "chaotic" upbringing with no idea of traditional social conventions.
She said: "I think I was just born rogue. My parents did not have a good relationship. There was no sense of, 'This is where you belong. This is how you have a friend over for a tea party. This is how you go to a dance'. It was chaotic. I thought, well, I might as well go off-map."
Taylor spent two years at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and though she earned a lot during her stint, she dropped out in order to "spread her wings" and get more practical experience.
She told The Edit magazine: "I appreciate what I learned there. [It made me] unafraid of the stag.
"I'm not afraid of Chekhov or Shakespeare. But I thought, 'How much more theory can we talk about?' I had to spread my wings."
And although the 30-year-old star quickly landed a role in drama series 'Mercy', she realised she was up against tough competition for the parts she wanted.
She said: "There are people in the business who have been working since they were children, and they're pros by 24. But that wasn't me.
"It was very hard. I felt a lot of responsibility. I felt like I wasn't able to bring it."
While Taylor has frequently felt she doesn't fit in, she admits that can be "liberating".
She added: "It can feel painful to be on the outside looking in, and it can be incredibly liberating to say, 'Alright, I've got nothing to lose.' "
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