I knew I wanted to be an actress when I was 9 years old.

When I first moved to L.A., I didn't have a lot of money to join a gym or take classes, so I improvised. My sister and I went to the library and looked over their DVD collection and discovered Neena and Veena, these Egyptian twins who have a whole series of belly dancing routines. We did them all.

I love being outdoors, playing beach tennis, going for runs in the sand, or doing a three-hour hike with my best girlfriend, Mieko.

I feel like we are so much more comfortable sweeping things under the rug and putting on a brave face, and to me, sweeping under the rug is a coward move, not a brave move at all. I want to get out there and have a conversation.

It's so important that people get tested and find out what they're allergic to, because they might be struggling with their weight or health issues and not realize that they're actually just allergic to the food they're eating.

But if an actress asks me my opinion, I would tell her there are a million different designers who make faux fur. If you like that look, wear faux fur. If you're doing it on the red carpet, you're doing it for how it looks. Faux fur and real fur look the same on camera.

I was always the girl who wore the mismatching socks, frizzy hair, ponytail I wouldn't take out for a week, and cutoff jean shorts that were at my knees.