mom

I grew up thinking that it's okay to be sad, angry, and express your emotions. I have also banged doors and fought, as I have seen my mom do that when she would fight with my dad. Everything that I've learnt is from them, so I've never struggled to express myself.

It was a sad process for me to become a mom, and a long process. I felt so embarrassed that I couldn't have a biological child.

When I moved out of my mom's house at 18 I was almost as sad to leave her sewing machine behind as anything else.

My mom and I always had a great bond. It was always a natural friendship bond since early on. My mom was 18 when she had me.

I've always wanted to be a mom because I want to give a kid all of the magical gifts my mom gave to me, such as love and friendship. She and I had this incredible connection that was so unbelievable.

When I was growing up, my mother was always a friend to my siblings and me (in addition to being all the other things a mom is), and I was always grateful for that because I knew she was someone I could talk to and joke with, and argue with and that nothing would ever harm that friendship.

I became an actress because my mom wanted me to become an actress. It took me until my mid-30s to realize I actually didn't. I actually wanted to write and direct and be more involved in politics and humanitarian issues.

My mom always talks about how hard it was to grow up in a political family. It's always split up, and just - I want to have fun in life. No, politics isn't on the list.

I owe much to mother. She had an expert's understanding, but also approached art emotionally.

The art of motherhood involves much silent, unobtrusive self-denial, an hourly devotion which finds no detail too minute.

My mom would always read a book to me at night from when I was three. Now, I can't go to sleep without reading a book. At the same time, once I read, it's difficult for me to go to sleep, as I have an overactive imagination and I start thinking.

My problem is that my imagination won't turn off. I wake up so excited I can't eat breakfast. I've never run out of energy. It's not like OPEC oil I don't worry about a premium going on my energy. It's just always been there. I got it from my mom.

I like to tell kids that I started thinking about stories when I first started reading stuff like Dr. Seuss and 'Go, Dog. Go!,' thinking, 'Oh yeah, that's funny. I'd like to do that.' And then writing throughout school, but at the same time I was studying pre-med stuff, because my mom told me I should be a doctor.

I never liked apples. In fact, when I was a little girl, my mom wanted to give me apples in my lunch box and I would ask for green peppers. So bizarre... It's funny - I don't have an apple a day, but I can say that I have a few a week.

My parents are both very funny but they're also relatively soft-spoken, normal human beings while I'm just a lunatic. I don't know where this loud, ballsy, hammy ridiculousness came from. I'm just glad I followed my goals and my parents did too. It's not like we even had a plan when I dragged my mom to Los Angeles.

As a busy working mom I'm always pressed for time, so a quick and easy beauty routine is key!

Going to the Academy Awards is something I remember since I was six, when I went with my mom for the first time, 14 with my dad, you know, and there I am, at 22, 23, whatever I was, sitting next to my mom. You know, and then again, there with my dad. Like, there's a beauty to it, and I care deeply about film history.

I don't want to be perfect, but I do want to be a role model. My mom always tells me that imperfections equal beauty. All of us are imperfect.