I traveled and worked with amazing actors, like Andy Garcia, Alec Baldwin, Brendan Fraser, Forest Whitaker, Lee Pace. It was this great learning experience. And then, I started watching a lot of television. I was always in these foreign countries and I would get TV shows on DVD, and I started to realize that all of the amazing roles for women were on television. I was spoiled by Buffy because I thought that was the way it was everywhere, and it's not.

I'm definitely leading a much slower life now that I'm not working every single day on a television series.

You're always homesick.

But there are still only certain film genres where a woman can stand out, be heroic, be the centerpiece.

I am definitely a Type-A, tidy, everything-has-a-place kind of person, so initially encouraging a mess was against my nature. But once you realize all the benefits, it's pretty simple to let that go.

A lot of times, when you start a show at a young age, you get stuck. You get six years of high school, but I didn't have that.

When picking a show, I took into consideration who my fans are. Let's be honest, Buffy was a mid-season replacement on The WB, based on a failed movie. If it wasn't for the outpouring of fans and critics supporting us, we would have been canceled after four episodes. Sure, you want to stretch and you want to do different things, but it's also our job to think about who our fans are and what they want to see. Ultimately, that's why we do.