If a character's suddenly spouting information that's supposed to bring you up to date, it can seem artificial or contrived.

They were both academics, but my dad had to get a job on the railway, and my mum had to get a job in the Post Office. It was pretty hard in terms of the racism they had to endure.

Los Angeles is the only place that I can honestly say I have ever called home.

Whenever I go back to London, I have this horrible feeling that something bad will happen, and I won't be able to get back to America. It's a nightmare feeling.

I feel Afghanistan has a very strong social fabric and sense of family... what I would like to do is encourage everybody in the country to appreciate more the role of women at home and outside.

As a child, I was a brat, and my parents didn't know how to control me. So they told me ghost stories, which stayed with me. I am still petrified of darkness and being alone.

At one time in my life, from the time I was seven until I was about 13, I didn't speak. I only spoke to my brother. The reason I didn't speak: I had been molested, and I told the name of the molester to my brother who told it to the family.

Easter is one of my favorite holidays with the kids. They get to run loose, and we always have our family and loved ones all around us!