Throughout my career I've played a lot of parts that might've been played by a man. They're human roles rather than specifically men or women. I've never been as hooked into that as a lot of women are, you know, like, 'There aren't enough roles for women.' There aren't necessarily a lot of good roles for anybody.

I wanted to act; that was my one goal. I wanted to devote all my time to acting and not waitressing or anything else.

There were a lot of times I wondered if I was deluding myself. I had nothing else to fall back on, but I never enjoyed anything else.

My friends started having children after college, while I was pursuing this crazy acting career and living hand to mouth. Plus, all my boyfriends were artists struggling to make a living. Having kids didn't make any sense - why would I take on more of a financial burden when I couldn't even afford a dog?

More than anybody in the music industry, the Staple Singers were like family to me.

I'd like to do an action film, a full-on comedy film, family dramas and a soulful romantic film.

I am grateful every morning I wake up. I've a big family full of kids, who laugh all the time and love each other.

They love 3-D. It's fun to watch a movie in 3-D with your children or with a group of children because you see the kids in front of you from time to time reaching up. You see little hands reaching up to grab things that they think are right there. I think it's remarkable and it does obviously, literally, add another dimension to the movie.