I think that being isolated from the Hollywood world of premieres and red carpet events was probably good for me because I could ease into those at will and by my own choice. But in other aspects, when it comes to fanfare, Hawaii is nuts and in L.A. they're all so jaded. They don't care.

The people on my mum's side of the family are atheist intellectuals who are ueber-proper. My dad's side of the family are missionaries who are more comfortable sitting around in sweatpants than they are in a five-star restaurant. But those two influences converged in my life.

I was a good student, I was good at soccer, I was vice president of the student council, I was a pretty girl.

If Americans could choose, would they choose to work on the infrastructure for cancer-causing oil power or would they choose to work on the infrastructure for health-reviving wind power?

Diets are a fool’s errand. I eat something sweet every day, whether it’s chocolate or a cookie. If I don’t, I guarantee you that there’s going to be a day every week when I’m going to stuff myself, especially if it’s PMS time.

As I grew older, I developed a very innate passion for art. I was actually pretty good at it.

My character is different from all of the Elves you've met before, in that she's really young. And I keep telling journalists this because I've really focused on that in my performance. I'm trying to distinguish her from all of these incredibly sage and wise Elves that have lived for thousands of years.