I've always had a desire to play a cop or FBI agent.

I've never gone for the smooth, suave Latin or French lover. That usually makes me think they're trying to pull one over on me.

People will always put you in a box that they think you fit in, and it's up to you to not fall into it.

I'm not very good at resting on my laurels. I am a bit of a workaholic, and I like to keep busy and active, so I think that's what drives me.

It's not hard to draw from within yourself to play someone protective of her daughter. I have animals and I'm a daughter, sister, wife, aunt and friend, and I can be fiercely protective.

I handle emotional pain by trying to understand that it's going to be painful and to allow for it instead of fighting it. Doesn't make it any easier, though.

Sometimes, if you don't have kids yourself, it's assumed you won't understand or know how to play a mom, which is kind of silly if you think about it.

I do like to treat myself, I just don't do it very often.

I think sometimes the hardest obstacle is yourself.

I am inspired when I see goodness in other people.

Chemistry is a hard thing. I don't think you can force it, and it doesn't necessarily mean that you have to have great chemistry outside of work. It's just something that sparks on screen or doesn't.

...[S]ome of the opinions which people entertain should be respected, and others should not.

You see persons and things not as they are but as you are.

There is always need for good foster parents, people who have room in their homes, the openhearted people.

If you want to do your duty properly, you should do just a little more than that.

Each generation thinks it fights new battles. But the battles are the same. Only the people are different.

I got to play with ZZ Top and introduce Bryan Adams and George Michael. And to have it all topped off by me winning 'American Idol?!' It's pretty absurd.

Communities have a responsibility to assist the family in promoting wholesome entertainment. What a community tolerates will become tomorrow's standard for today's youth.

Woe to him who seeks to please rather than appall.

I'd been doing projects outdoors for the public. I made pigeons eat geometry by putting bread out in rhomboids and triangles. I don't know if this activity made sense, but the work was available.

In this republican country, amid the fluctuating waves of our social life, somebody is always at the drowning-point.