By the time I was seventeen, I was on my way to Hollywood and didn't look back. My family is supportive now, but like any adult guardian of a seventeen-year-old daughter, they were not thrilled with my plan to run off to the LA to make it as an actress. Even a somewhat functioning parent would think that was a bad, bad idea. Lucky for me, I didn't listen to them.

For as long as I can remember, I've been the kind of person who goes against the grain and questions authority, and that doesn't make for an ideal religious follower.

I seem to be stuck in the '60s, and my favorite music, cars, and women's fashion come from that era. And the sense of social rebellion. It was a good time for a lot of things.

I'm strong. I'm smart. I'm not a victim,' to my detriment.

I can definitely make an argument for atheism. I was very educated in scripture and dogma and the church, particularly the Catholic Church. I could not possibly know that I disagreed with religion unless I knew what I was disagreeing with.

If you're seen as beautiful or sexy then your only options in terms of character descriptions are beautiful, sexy, cute - and that's it. And that affords you a certain amount of opportunity but that opportunity ultimately leads to a spark, never a flame.

I was working with real artists [in the Rum Diary], and that's difficult to do and very rare, in this industry, ironically.