To become a classical ballerina, you have to move to New York when you're 12 or 11 and that becomes your life. I just wanted to be good in my company in Charleston and I wanted it to always be part of my life.

The rule with marriage is the less you talk about it the better, as far as I can tell.

It's about getting the kids up and fed, getting one to school, getting the other down for a nap, going to the grocery store, picking one up from school, getting the other one down for another nap, cooking dinner... I live my life at these two extremes. I'm either a full-time stay-at-home mom or a full-time actress.

I remember, my mom didn't have any help, so if she needed to be somewhere after school, we'd just go down to the neighbors' and she'd give us a snack and make sure we did our homework. There weren't any latchkey kids.

I love the feeling of being on a team, rehearsing together, sharing a dressing room - I love that so much.

I know I live a charmed, beautiful life and nobody wants to hear a celebrity whine. The last thing I want to do is complain; I love what I do and I know every job comes with a downside.

I rebelled by not getting straight A's and not following the path that my elder sister did. She was valedictorian and is very exemplary in her way. I look a lot like her, so I just had to do the opposite. Not that I got bad grades, but I was all about performance and just finding any way that I could to be involved in any kind of production.

I feel lucky, though, because even when 'Alias' was popular, I was still sent scripts against type. I've never felt like the world only sees me one way. But yes, it's been really fun to be bad.

Growing up where I did, the thought of working on a television show or in a movie... that existed on a parallel plane, you know?

My sisters both are working mothers. I understand that my being an actress as well as being at home isn't some heroic thing. That doesn't mean it isn't confusing or difficult - especially that question of how you find a balance.

I'm still conflict-averse. I don't like to argue.

I will tell you what I can't abide - and I think the Internet has really created a space for it - women criticizing other women and mothers criticizing other mothers.

I never had a problem resisting somebody that I knew was going to break my heart.

Going after 'the bad guy' has not been a real issue for me.

I certainly never expected to be in front of a camera one day of my life.

In my teens, I was never part of the cool crowd.

The outside world can be very tough.

My world was a community ballet school, a marching band, my two sisters and my girlfriends. I played saxophone in the band and was a bit nerdy.

We all have a responsibility to volunteer somewhere and I'm lucky that I get the education and get taken to places to see what's out there and see what's happening and to then be a part of it in hopefully an impactful way.

My mom was really vigorous about making sure that we saw things and that we questioned things. Education was so important to both of my parents.

I try to eat in a way that makes me feel good. If that means a little bite of chocolate I do that, but I try not to use food as a reward for myself.

I just try work out at least twice a week if I can.

I am usually part of any disaster at a wedding if I'm a bridesmaid, which I've been lucky enough to be several times.

I thought the divorce statistics would never apply to me. I was beyond heartbroken when they did. But I got up and got on with it. I also kept my belief in marriage.

I don't know anyone who was never a geek, really, when they look at their own lives. I think that from the outside looking in, you think that you weren't necessarily a tragic geek, but yes, you did lean in that direction.

But I'll never be one of those women who feel that they always have to wear earrings and aren't properly dressed without them.

I wasn't raised in a household where vanity was celebrated. That just wasn't on the top of our list.

I danced six hours a day. My cross to bear is that my children have no interest in ballet. I think they could smell how much I wanted to put their hair in a bun.

When Jen Aniston and Brad Pitt broke up, I was dying to see something that said they were getting back together.

I'm a pretty hard worker.

I miss West Virginia very much.

I'm a peace-maker, I can fit into a lot of situations. I'm pretty easygoing. I have a lot of patience.

Why does everyone think they need to be a star? It's ridiculous. The celebrity culture is so silly, and the fact that people grow up thinking that it's something to aspire to just seems wrong. I don't mean to bash my life. I love my life; I just think it's not the only way to go.

When I was in college, every summer I would work for free at a theater.

I have a great deal of respect for any women that will enter the world of little boys of sports.

The one thing I really lucked out on is that all through my teenage years, when my sister was a lifeguard and everyone I knew was out in the sun all day - I was in the theater. Everyone called me Casper because I never had a tan, and everyone else was tan all the time. I think that was the luckiest thing of my life.

There's rarely a big hat. I think all those things are great, but I'm boring in that I just use sunscreen every day. I don't mess around. I put it on first thing. I have it on now, and I'm sitting inside.

I usually don't wear makeup, and if I do, it's later in the day if I have to get my act together for work for some reason.

There's just nothing like sharing the spotlight or anything else with your sisters and your mom. It's always fun for me to get my sisters dolled up and my mom.

People have pain - they do regrettable things, they feel shame, and shame equals pain.

We do a lot of crafting at our house. I don't even know how it got started because if you ask me, 'Are you crafty?' I would say, 'No...' but it's something that we just do.

I'm so thrilled to get to raise my kids in the environment that they are in. I think it's easy just to imagine that all these kids are spoiled and entitled. Part of what makes me be strong with my kids is the fact that I'm surrounded by other really firm strong moms.

We can be so hard on ourselves. And other people can, too - there's so much criticism out there!