I know my children will never have to say, 'Mom died of ovarian cancer.'

Yeah, but before anything, I think in 6 years somehow I've grown up to have a beautiful home, 2 beautiful stepchildren, a beautiful husband, my family is healthy and happy. I'm financially ok and I do what I love for a living. That's what I think, and I think god, how did I get so lucky.

We talk about orphanages, we talk about their countries and differences, and it’s a source of excitement and pride. I’ve heard Maddox explain to Zahara when they are talking about pregnancy, ‘No, Zee, remember, you were in that nice African woman’s belly. I was in that nice Cambodian woman’.

Violence against women and lack of intervention and man's inhumanity to man and this kind of atrocities are going on. These are big issues of our times, we must speak about them, we must learn how to better understand how these things happen so we can address them.

It's hard no to work, so I find a way to put myself back to work. And I think it's important, in between projects, for me to sit down with who I've just become and allow her to continue to evolve and find a home inside me before I go and become somebody else. But I think I also need to learn to relax and not prepare too much, just enjoy life. I notice that my characters go out to dinner and have fun and take these great trips, but I spend so much time on their lives, I don't have much of a personal life of my own. I have to sort of remember to fill out that little notebook on me.

I've often felt unattractive or different looking. As I've grown up, I've felt more comfortable in my own skin. It may sound cliche, but when you feel beautiful and strong on the inside, it shows on the outside.

If every choice you make comes from an honest place, you're solid, and nothing anybody can say about you can rock you or change your opinion