Am I ambitious? I used to be afraid of that word but now I think ambition is a good thing.

There are women who make things better, there are women who change things, there are women who make things happen, who make a difference. I want to be one of those women.

I have tender, romantic associations with upstate New York.

Esquire's all about mommy issues now. Breastfeeding, vaccinations, playdate etiquette.

Just because I’m telling a story about a woman losing faith is not my rebellion against what I grew up in. If anything, it really affected the way I approached the story, and in fact, approach everything. I don’t judge my characters.

I’m someone who can sit in a Buddhist temple, and I can sit with Pentecostals or with Orthodox Jews, and I still feel like I am in tune with all of them.

But I think for me, why I was drawn to the piece is, at the core of the story, it's a love story to me - between Ed and Lorraine, between these two families who are asking for help and us who are in the business of giving help.