I mean, I didn't ever watch 'Gilligan's Island' and think, 'Those people are actors.' I lived in West Virginia. Hollywood just felt like this total other universe.

I don't have this fantasy about marriage anymore. Everyone says it takes hard work. Well, it kind of does -- and I'm much more pragmatic about romance than I used to be. [With Scott] I wanted to see him as a white knight and was crushed whenever anything normal happened. I wanted to be the princess. Now I'm much more willing to see myself as human and flawed, and accept someone -- the whole picture. My life is definitely changing for the better. I couldn't be happier or feel more comfortable with the direction it's going in.

We all have a responsibility to volunteer somewhere and I'm lucky that I get the education and get taken to places to see what's out there and see what's happening and to then be a part of it in hopefully an impactful way.

I adore going to movie sets and being part of a team trying to create something. And yet, I hate to miss even one bedtime with my girls. . . My sisters both are working mothers. I understand that my being an actress as well as being at home isn't some heroic thing. That doesn't mean it isn't confusing or difficult--especially that question of how you find a balance.

It's about getting the kids up and fed, getting one to school, getting the other down for a nap, going to the grocery store, picking one up from school, getting the other one down for another nap, cooking dinner... I live my life at these two extremes. I'm either a full-time stay-at-home mom or a full-time actress.

I think that it’s not as crazily different, my job, from anyone else’s, as people let themselves believe. I think people get wrapped up in their own idea of what it is, but it’s really not that.

In my teens, I was never part of the cool crowd.