In a relationship I'm a very loving person, emotional and sensitive.

In human years I am 29. In actress years I'm the ripe, promising age of 18 to 35. That's how it works here in Hollyweird.

Inspiration is the key to everything.

It would be so depressing to be a model and not get to say a word. There's no personality involved.

My dad is Irish. I spent my childhood going back and forth between Ireland and America.

My parents said marrying was an optimistic thing to do in pessimistic times.

Now I'm doing a film festival for kids and writing a script about a kidnapped journalist in Afghanistan.

Oh God, to think that you only fall in love once in your entire life is such a depressing thought.

Once, in Australia, I ate 33 pancakes in 20 minutes, and I only did it because they said a girl could never enter the competition.

Only the really young are fearless, have the optimism, the romanticism to take unimaginable risks.

People assume actresses are afraid to get older; the truth is the roles get a whole lot more compelling once you're too old to play dumb.

Weakness is something we don't like to admit we have. We hold it against people, until we experience it, and then we feel more compassion for it.

When I first did theatre, I was always doing comedies; it was always my first love. But it wasn't what I was picked for at first, for films and TV.

When I have really blonde hair, I usually go for a more natural look, wearing way less makeup.

From a very early age, I made my decisions based on careers that I admire. The one thing that all the actresses I love have in common is that they have diversity in their careers.

A lot of people assume that women of a certain age who are not unattractive have no excuse for not having a perfect life. But you can have emotional baggage that is dragging you down like cement blocks tied to your feet.

Believe it or not, I'm a big fan of patchouli oil. I know it's not a universally liked fragrance. I usually combine it with other essential oils - I have many mixtures I like.

Cleanses and products don't make you look more beautiful. They certainly help, but if you reach contentment, you're set. My makeup artist, Melanie Iglesias, couldn't figure out why my skin looks so good. I think it's because I'm happy!

Documentaries are a powerful and effective way of bridging the gap between worlds, breaking through to new audiences that wouldn't otherwise be engaged - in essence, not preaching to the choir.

I actually happened to be in Haiti right before the earthquake in 2010. I was there already with the organization I work with now, Artists for Peace and Justice, visiting the primary school that I had adopted, the Academy for Peace and Justice in Port-au-Prince. I came back, and within days, the earthquake happened.