Also, just so you know, her firefighter dad was actually her stepdad — her real father was Michael Monasterio, a rock musician who wasn’t around when she was a kid.
She also had a younger sister, and as children, the two “played outside until it was dark,” she recalled in an interview with The Guardian. They would wish “the light would stay longer, so you didn’t have to go home.”
Later in life, she remembered being bullied as early as age 8 because of her red hair and freckles.
”I was told every day at school that I was ugly,” she told Glamour. ”And that no one wanted to be my friend. The most cruel things.”
Tragically, in 2003, her sister died by suicide at their biological father’s home, and Michael Monasterio later passed away in 2013 from bronchitis.
When her father passed away, the award-winning actress didn’t attend the funeral and didn’t speak publicly about his death. She later described the attention around it as “very difficult.” She also revealed that no father was listed on her birth certificate and there’s “no proof of anything.”
Financial hurdles
While most lot of the women around her had kids as teenagers, our star knew that wasn’t the path for her. She found her true passion at just 7 years old when she saw a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
”As soon as I saw that I was like, ‘Oh my god, this is my job, this is what I am,’” she told The Telegraph. ”I’ve always had an active imagination, and I didn’t do very well in the public-school system, but that was a complete aha moment for me.”
And just like that, her dream of becoming an actress was born.
“There were people that saw I was struggling as a kid, and they helped me,” she added. “And that’s why I ended up where I am now.”
A huge inspiration was her grandmother, who took her to her first play and always encouraged her to pursue what she loved.
”I think she saw that I needed an outlet or something to find my people, in a way, and be creative,” the actress shared with The Hollywood Reporter.
