I'm very proud of being a woman, and as a woman, I don't even like the word feminism because when I hear that word, I associate it with women trying to pretend to be men, and I'm not interested in trying to pretend to be a man. I don't want to embrace manhood, I want to embrace my womanhood.

I don't want everyone to think of me as just 'that kid who called Jesse Jackson a communist in middle school.' That's why I decided to become a famous actress.

I cried myself to sleep wishing I was ugly because men leered and disrespected me, because they assumed things about my mental capacity or my physical willingness based on the way I look.

In your 20s you can be pretty, but you don't accomplish real beauty until you find wisdom and depth.

A month and a half after my first audition, I won the role on Lost.

People initially think I'm a snob because I'm intensely private.

I'm very sensitive. Emotionally, I bruise very easily. I'm a Leo, and this is very characteristic of our sign.