Growing up with three boys in a heavily male-dominated world, I especially needed to express myself as a woman.

I think because I was a mother, it helped me feel comfortable that really my primary goal there was to save my kids.

People love to talk about how the '70s are the only time they made movies about characters, and adult movies, and complicated people. But in the '80s, they got away with some of those too.

Sometimes when I read about my rebellion in print it sounds a little overrated.

After Leaving Las Vegas I did assume that things would get a lot easier than they've been. But it's just been a mirror of the way my career's been from the beginning, so for it to have changed would have been strange. My career has never been perfect.

Sadness, joy, wonder - all feelings come from a place of grounded strength that comes from trust in yourself. We spend so much time trying to control our feelings out of fear that something may happen, that somebody may not love us, or walk away or die. It's only when you stop living in that fear of what other people might do to you or how they will react, only then are you free to be alive.

I try really hard to give my kids as much independence as I can, caring mostly about their character: Are they kind? Generous? Do they work hard?