If you leave home for a while ... you question the conventional wisdom you've grown up with. That doesn't mean you have to change your opinions or who you are, but it's good to ask the questions.

I used to sing with my father's jazz band and then when I was ten years old a musician friend of his suggested that I try out for the first west coast production of Annie.

It's the universal feeling that we all are alone - that we're all different. I think the movie's one resounding theme is that everybody feels the same, and we're all alone together. Some people come up to me on the street and thank me for helping them get through their teen years.

I can't stand films that make the kids out to be heroes and the parents to be imbeciles.

Getting the pretty back is about getting back in touch with your essential self: the part of you that knows what you really want.

I never really felt like I belonged in California.

I've always been the bookish type, and I've never really hidden that about myself.