I was a pretty scrappy, tough kid; I got in all sorts of fights at school. I defended myself - boys didn't mess with me. But as one of seven children, you have to fight for everything anyway.

Some of these actresses or public personas who are very public about their disciplined diets, more power to them. I just don't see the point. Do you know, the people I love as actresses, I've never, ever sought out pictures of them to see what they look like in a swimsuit.

Moving out to L.A. for me was a leap of faith. I was very secure in my dinner theater world; I loved it, and I was just like, 'I think there's something else out there for me and I just have to go for it.'

I have a small child, so the idea of getting up at 3 a.m. to train before a day of shooting... I just don't have it in me, although I have so much respect for people who do.

I have to say I've been lucky in that way in that I've been able to go from different films and different genres with different challenges.

In high school, I was so painfully self-aware that how I thought of myself was probably very different from what other people thought of me. I thought of myself as just painfully awkward and dorky. I had a lot of hair and was kind of weird. I sang a lot in the hallways.

I think a lot of times we don't pay enough attention to people with a positive attitude because we assume they are naive or stupid or unschooled.