I was a goth girl in high school. Perhaps the powdered white face and the black lipstick were not the most attractive. I felt fabulous at the time but looking back, uh, probably not the best idea.

I often played the nerdy friend or the goofy sidekick or the sort of naïve movie character in some ways.

I had always heard of Bad Santa one but I hadn't seen it, but it was sort of legendary.

It just seemed so odd as people had never commented on my body before. Every woman obsesses over her figure, but I was happy, I felt sexy, I never thought about it. I know this sounds naive, but I honestly never expected this kind of attention.

In the beginning, it was odd to have so much attention brought to my body type. I thought, "Uh-oh, brace yourself." But everyone has been so positive. During the first season, a woman came up to me at dinner and said, "I just want to thank you - watching you has made me proud of my body." I thought, What an amazing thing for someone to say! To make anyone feel good about themselves makes me feel good.

I've always been someone who really watches other people, human behavior. To watch it and be able to express it through your version has always been really exciting to me

I guess my mom raised me right. She was very celebratory of her body. I never heard her once say, "I feel fat." Back when I was modeling, the first time I went to Italy I was having cappuccinos every day, and I gained 15 pounds. And I felt gorgeous! I would take my clothes off in front of the mirror and be like, "Oh, I look like a woman." And I felt beautiful, and I never tried to lose it, 'cause I loved it.