When I was in my 20s I wasn't sure of myself. Now I can really stretch. I don't have to stay in the box. At this point I can say to myself, So what if I fall, so what? I'm going to get back up.

I just knew that was what I wanted to do. I was going to perform as a singer; I was going to perform as a dancer, and I was, you know, going to do movies and be an actress. I was going to do it or die trying. That's what my life was

I've been married twice and I've tried to make it work, but I feel I haven't had a real marriage yet.

I felt about life and the way I felt about my children was so deep and profound. It was the first time I'd felt anything like that. I knew as an artist that it was going to make a huge difference in everything that I did.

Confidence: It's the difference between the girl with the perfect body in a one-piece bathing suit, pulling at it and thinking she's not thin enough or doesn't have big enough boobs - and the girl who people call a bit overweight, but meanwhile, she's wearing a bikini and guys are saying, "God, she's sexy." It all has to do with how you feel about yourself - it's about projecting the attitude, I'm OK with who I am.

I'll just get better as I go along because I'm open to getting better. If you have the goods, there's nothing to be afraid of. If somebody doesn't have the goods, they're insecure. I don't have that problem

It was easy to blame other people for treating me in ways I didn't like, but now I was seeing that I was the one at fault. The only way you can be mistreated is by allowing yourself to be mistreated, and that was something I did over and over again. Somehow, I needed to find that glimmer of self-respect, buried deep inside, that would allow me to say: I am never going to let that happen to me again. I needed to learn how to stand up for myself in a different way, but I didn't know how.