I create my own backstory regardless of if I'm told something about the background or not. There's always more that you can develop in your head that makes a character more layered, more honest.

I had been going on auditions and things like that since I was probably 10 - 11 years old.

And there's also not enough films that are more of a imitation of what real life looks like.

My husband didn't want the divorce, but I did. So there was a lot of bitterness initially. Once we got to the space where we understood that we have the most important thing in the world in common; no one else shared that commonality. Our son is priceless, and in order to give him the best, we have to be better to each other. Although we are still divorced, we still call each other "family." It was a journey to get there, but it's a beautiful place to be.

I don't think something is a failure if you put your all into it. I'm a big fan of the saying, "Nothing beats a failure but a try."

Especially in this industry, women challenge men much more now because we're saying, 'We can do it, too.'

But, once again, when I said I'm so grateful for my mom just being adamant about me staying in public school - that is what allowed me to be exposed to so many different types of people. I went to a high school that was by the beach. I elected to do bussing my junior high school years. And my first year of high school, I would take the bus from my neighborhood to the beach schools. And at those schools, you had such a mix of so many types of kids.