The coming-of-age story has sort of become a joke. It's something to capitalize on, and that is painful because when you are coming of age - when you are going through something like that - the genre is so meaningful.

People should recognize who you are and how you can act rather than how famous you are.

You can find the money, you'll be okay, but the things that you choose to invest your energy in, that shapes your life and your path and where you go from there. I find that when I'm a part of things that I believe in and I love, it leads to more things like that.

Being on a movie set when you have a great strong people there supporting you can be very nurturing. You get to explore these creative parts of yourself as a child that most people don't explore until they're in college.

My mom had an audition for a commercial when I was about two and a half, and I ran in crying and interrupted her. They thought I was cute so they offered me a commercial role. My mom was skeptical and a bit nervous about the child actor thing, but I was extremely bossy and convinced them I wanted to try it.

I don't really have an aversion to watching myself. I think I've been doing it for long enough that I have a system of separating it in my brain from my egotistical neuroses for the most part.

When I was a teenager, for the most part, I had a really great, easy relationship with my mom, but there are those occasional mom/daughter things that are unavoidable. That's what makes it more upsetting and more true to life. We have great moments, and then we have terrible moments as well.