My sister, I have a sister who's 12 years older, she was always the party girl, the outrageous one.

I remember my first meeting with Guillermo Del Toro - he couldn't have been warmer, but I always had a kind of immaturity about me dealing with people that were in charge. Not really knowing how to conduct myself. And I got on the floor and curled up into a ball under a desk, which is so weird - as I was doing it, I was like, "Oh, my god, you're a freak. Get up. What are you doing?" And I looked at him like, "I'm so sorry," and he's like, "No, it's natural. Why wouldn't you want to do that?" He's just the most giving person and made me feel not like a freak.

I never want to be a showoff or attention getter or something that, truthfully, is kind of repulsive to me, but I get uncomfortable.

I remember the audition process for Xena: Warrior Princess; I was driving there and I was listening to The Cranberries' "Dreams," so I was thinking of that audition again recently with the sudden passing of Dolores O'Riordan, Cranberries singer. And I remember that song, I was like, "Okay, I can do anything" as I was driving onto the lot at Universal.

Legally Blonde was a game-changer. That's an American classic. I was so proud to be Vivian Kensington. I still have an argyle barrette. Sophie Carbonell did such an amazing job with the wardrobe - it's just iconic. Yeah, that'll forever be - girls still like it. It's not dated to them. Little girls now still watch it.

I'm flatchested, I'm short, I'm brunette, I have droopy eyes, and so people have a hard time casting me as a 'beauty.'

Part of me would love to have been a leading lady because there's a lot of glamour that goes with that and a lot of applause, but I've been very blessed.