Hiding my migraines on the set may have been my toughest challenge as an actor. There were times when the pain from migraine headaches was so severe that I literally had to crawl across my dressing room floor. But I couldnt let anyone know. If they thought I might slow production, I figured that would end my career.

You know they're just looking for wrinkles and cellulite.

When the AIDS epidemic broke, because I happened to be a science nerd and knew a lot about viruses and a lot about that virus at the time, I felt a moral obligation to go out and try to stem the fear and get out and explain to people what the disease was and how it worked.

I think sometimes women are not driven by the same, albeit, testosterone power thing that pushes men to get into politics.

Saving the world via medical research or going off to Gobi Desert to dust off dinosaur eggs is what I thought I might be doing when I was a kid, and Id love to bring those interests to a show like E.R. or The West Wing, or a movie like Jurassic Park.

Growing up in Texas, you were either pretty or smart. Smart didnt get you very far, because there werent too many job opportunities for women. I wondered why you couldnt be both.

I was a little fat pudgy kid with big thick glasses, and I was quiet and never said a word, you know -- teachers loved me, straight-A student.