I've been a ballerina since I was two, but I've always wanted to be an actress.

You know in cartoons, the way someone can run off a cliff and they're fine, they don't fall down until they look down? My mom always said that was the secret of life. Never look down. But it's more than that. It's not just about looking. It's about never realizing that you're in the middle of the air and you don't know how to fly.

My grandmother was German. She didn't teach any of her children German. She really wanted them to be American. And now, she's since passed away, I get so frustrated sometimes. I'm like, "Oh, Oma, why didn't you teach your kids German?" My dad would have spoken German to me from birth, and I would have spoken German.

I don't really date. I have a weird vision of relationships because my parents have known each other since second grade, and they got married right out of college. I've always thought that's what it's supposed to be like, and if it's not, then I don't want to waste my time on it. Even when I was 14, I was like, 'I'm not gonna marry this person. What's the point of doing it?' It's not me being naive. I just know what it's supposed to be like, and I think until I feel that, I cannot be bothered.

My job is all about getting inside another person's mind and thoughts.

It's what I love about what I do and the life that I'm able to have and be able to just be so normal one day and be here the next...I feel so lucky to be able to do what I do.

I never get scared making these kinds of movies because it's all make-believe, but I did cry when I saw the finished version of Man On Fire because it is so sad.