“I don’t think it serves any minority or underrepresented group to be coddled. Because the world won’t coddle you. So I actually believe in tough love, hard truths, black and white.”

I thought it was my job to give all the boys their first kiss.

I think that people who don’t like animals tend to be selfish, but I’m biased.

As far as being married and what it means to me… it’s nice knowing that I have a partner in life and that someone’s got my back.

When it comes to diversity, women are still underrepresented in so many different places, but one place we’re not underrepresented is we hold a majority of the household income, and we control that.

I think people couldn’t really put me in [one race]. I wasn’t Mexican, I wasn’t white, I wasn’t black, I wasn’t Asian… I wasn’t anything, and I didn’t really fit into anybody’s group. My dad is Mexican, and my mom is French and Danish.

Some [actors] are really a pain in the ass today. I held out on getting an assistant forever because I didn’t want to seem demanding… or like a pain in the ass. I didn’t want someone working for me to hate me.

I’ve been getting my makeup done professionally since I was 12, I’ve never found a brand that could create that glowing look and flawless finish we all want from beauty products with ingredients that were effective and safe. So I had to create it.

I’ve got cousins galore, Mexicans just spread all their seeds and the women just pop them out.

Good actors never use the script unless it’s amazing writing. All the good actors I’ve worked with, they all say whatever they want to say.

I can seriously spend five hours making one dinner.

I love acting because it’s this space where dreams can be realized, fantasy comes to life, and there are no limitations on what’s possible.

I didn’t really [seriously] go out with any guys until I was 18 and met my ex-fiancé, Michael Weatherly.

I’m comfortable looking sexy. I don’t push it with poses, although I like the ironic part of it. That’s what makes it fun.

A parent knows better than any book or “expert” what their kid really needs.

I had severe asthma and kidney problems and would get 105-degree fevers. I actually almost had to go on dialysis for my kidneys. I was also in the hospital for pneumonia.

I get self-conscious, but you have to just embrace it and go with it.

I still believe I have a part to play for England.

I don’t have any secret sauce and I’m no smarter than anyone else. I will say I have surrounded myself with unbelievable talent that has made my job easier.

Yet I also believe that when you do unto others, blessings come to you as well. So if you don’t have a friend, be a friend. If you are having a bad day, make someone else’s day. If your feelings are hurt, heal those of another.

Although no one believes me, I have always been a country girl and still have a country girl’s values.

I believe one thing: that today is yesterday and tomorrow is today and you can’t stop.

If I believe that I am right, I will take it to the end of the earth until I am proven right.

We can believe as we want, but we should not force our beliefs on others.

When you start in science, you are brainwashed into believing how careful you must be, and how difficult it is to discover things. There’s something that might be called the ‘graduate student syndrome’; graduate students hardly believe they can make a discovery.