Staying in shape does not come easily, especially as you get older and you don't have as much time or energy to exercise. I used to be naturally skinny in high school and college. I was in cheerleading, ran track, and did gymnastics, so I had a built-in five-hour workout every day. Lately, I've been doing Pilates on the Megaformer, which is like Pilates on steroids.

I grew up as the ugly duckling, they called me 'la prieta fea', which means ugly dark one - that was my nickname.

I'm a fabulous date, I make sure I look good, I like hearing what a guy has to say and I make sure the evening is a real laugh. I like to laugh.

I was born in platform heels. I actually always fall down when I'm wearing flip-flops.

In my family, there was one cardinal priority - education. College was not an option; it was mandatory. So even though we didn’t have a lot of money, we made it work. I signed up for financial aid, Pell Grants, work study, anything I could.

You don't get the good roles when you're beautiful.

My mother gave me one piece of advice that stuck with me. She said don't forget where you came from.