When I first found out that I was an Idol finalist, I cried tears of happiness. I was just so happy, and my family was there and the fact that got to see that moment and share that moment with me was just everything to me.
I was always a show girl. My parents were wonderful. There wasn't a lot going on where we lived, but they ferried me to classes and competitions all over the place. When I was 12, I came to London as a finalist in a singing competition and I was completely wide-eyed.
I see all these old people who don't have anything to do but eat, drink and sleep. I will never say 'retired' because that's such a finality that I don't want to be part of my life. I'll work until they throw me in a box.
You'll never convince me there is a hopeless situation or there is any finality in any success or any failure.
What is protecting me is that it is not a finality being an actress. I really think we tend to idealize this job a lot. When you're an actress and you're really famous, it means people believe you are on top of the world - and I think that's not true.
Economy forced me to become a vegetarian, but I finally starting liking it.
A lot of people would be happy that they got through a long career and had a chance to play as many times in the finals. To me, I wanted to win for the franchise and for the people. And when you can't do that, it's devastating, particularly for someone like me.
I'm no Buddhist monk, and I can't say I'm in love with renunciation in itself, or traveling an hour or more to print out an article I've written, or missing out on the N.B.A. Finals. But at some point, I decided that, for me at least, happiness arose out of all I didn't want or need, not all I did.
In the Finals, you want to set a statement like, 'This is me. This is who I am.' You know everyone's watching.
My father, being a Scotsman, taught me to look after finances. I'm shrewd. Some people may call me tight.
My father wasn't allowing me control and the financial freedom that I was asking for. I was 17, about to be 18 within a year, so I started asking more questions because I felt that I needed to start learning about those things.
I'm focusing on me. I'm focusing on my family's security, my family's financial security, so that's all I can do.
It's difficult for me to trust a woman. Men are attracted to beautiful women. Women are attracted to men who offer security - financial security. And if you have money and you're famous, women find that sexy.
I feel very lucky that I don't have to rely on a man to give me financial security. That's a big deal.
When I first went into financial services, people told me not to be too over-optimistic about change.
I developed more as an actor in the course of 'Lost' than I had in any period in my career before because they trusted me and allowed me to use the tools that I finally brought out. And quite honestly, it's only been since 'Lost' that I've had any sort of financial stability.
My parents couldn't give me a whole lot of financial support, but they gave me good genes. My dad is a handsome son-of-a-gun, and my mom is beautiful. And I've definitely been the lucky recipient. So, thank you, Mom and Dad.
When it came to my childhood - growing up in a single-parent home, often struggling financially - my mother definitely instilled in me and my siblings this strength, this will, to just continue to survive and succeed.
My mother raised me with God. We were poor financially, but we were rich spiritually.
'Independent' means one thing to me: It means that regardless of the source of financing, the director's voice is extremely present. It's such a pretentious term, but it's auteurist cinema. Director-driven, personal, auteurist... Whatever word you want.
