If you look at the parts I've played and the movies I've done... I mean you have to work with the stereotype. The stereotype gets you paid, it gets you in the business. If they're looking for a white housewife, they're going to go for Joan Cusack.

I would have been a lot more nervous if I would had known that Matthew McConaughey was [on 30th Annual Television Critics Association Awards] and Julia Louis-Dreyfus was there and all that, and I was like, "Wait a minute and Bryan Cranston's here..." I think I would have got more nervous. But I think thinking it was just like, "Oh yeah critics, we're good." It was great.

I consider myself a feminist. My whole life has been about standing up for women, for anybody really, who's been abused.

I just see the opportunities and I go for them. I don't want to play my career safe. I've had my successes and I've had a few failures, too. But you just keep going and do the best that you can. That's what I've learned.

The thing that you think is imperfect about you, is the thing that makes you who you are. It separates you from everybody else.

All of a sudden I got a call the night of the first time we were filming and they're like, "Terry, we made a mistake. We need you to be you. You're not a joke with these guys and you're not mousy, you're very aggressive. Now it just so happens that you're going through these things, but we need you to be more physical in your role."

I'll never forget my worst business decision. I bought a Nissan Pathfinder with my first signing bonus. I didn't even have a place to live, but I bought a car. Not a smart move but, believe me, I learned from that mistake.