Going to a party for me is as much a learning experience as you know sitting in a lecture.

I was taught by my father. He was head of the primary school so I went to his school until I was 11 - I was the youngest of four daughters and we had all been taught by him. But I didn't really enjoy my secondary education that much probably because I am a very physical person and don't enjoy sitting at a desk all day.

But I didn't really enjoy my secondary education that much probably because I am a very physical person and don't enjoy sitting at a desk all day. I just dragged myself through GCSE and A Levels so it suited me very much to go on to drama school which was very active.

I think violence cynicism brutality and fashion are the staples of our diet. I think in the grand history of story-telling going back to people sitting around fires the dark side of human nature has always been very important. Movies are part of that tradition.

Right now I'd love to be sitting on a Greek island somewhere because of being Greek American eating great octopus salad and some fantastic lamb. Or sipping a little ouzo. I think the Mediterranean diet is one of the healthiest... Lots of nuts vegetables fruits fresh fish lean meats yogurt.

I'm a fan of horrors. I love the ones that make you jump. My girlfriend hates it. I've been dating her for one-and-a-half years and I'm crazy about her but she's terrified of horror films. Not the cute 'Will you hold me?' way but she's weeping. With 'House of Wax ' we'll be sleeping and I'll go to the bathroom and she's sitting up waiting for me.

The people on my mum's side of the family are atheist intellectuals who are ueber-proper. My dad's side of the family are missionaries who are more comfortable sitting around in sweatpants than they are in a five-star restaurant. But those two influences converged in my life.

I wasn't sure how my dad would react. There was an agent sitting behind them and he told me he was embarrassed to watch the scenes. My parents have always been very open. They trust my decisions.

My memories are of my dad taking me to football on Saturday mornings and my mum taking me swimming. Those are the things I remember from my childhood not sitting around the table debating capitalism and the profit squeeze.

Sitting at the table during Color Purple and looking up and suddenly realizing I was acting in front of Steven Spielberg was pretty cool. It was pretty good.

I did find some time to go to a record store and check out 'Headstrong' actually in the racks. It was pretty cool I never thought I'd see my own CD sitting there with everyone else's. I made my Mom take lots of pics!

I once sang 'Summer Nights ' from 'Grease ' at a bar in Melbourne with John Travolta who's a good friend of mine. He looked cool singing the part of Danny - sitting in an armchair smoking a cigar - while I got stuck playing Sandy.

If I had done what I was programmed to do I would now be sitting in a car factory looking at the sizes of wheels or wondering how to get credit to start a new factory in Russia.

I don't want to be in my car all day. I love getting up in the morning in Venice and walking my dogs down to the cafe to get my tea and then perhaps going to a bookstore and sitting and reading then walking to the beach.

Well it is so difficult right now when you look out on the road and how fast people go and the more and more cars you see out there for teenagers you'd think a kid that literally a few years before was sitting back in a car seat in the back seat is now behind the wheel.

You know sitting in the car when they got back in and - first of all it was relief. I was not - there were two get away cars or switch cars they were called. And you know the group tended to include everyone.

A lot of the songs start with an image. I was sitting there playing the guitar and I pictured this old dirty green car with the window rolled down in the hot hot hot Texas heat and this beautiful woman I knew when I was a kid sitting behind the wheel looking out at me.

Life's too short when you find yourself sitting in a car for four hours every day trying to get from East L.A. to West L.A. to Hollywood and then back to East L.A.

That's what I love. Not being interrupted sitting in a car by myself and listening to music in the rain. There are so many great songs yet to sing.

Having played many roles of scientific intellect I do have an empathy for that world. It's been hard on me because flying the Enterprise for seven years in Star Trek and sitting in Cerebro in X-men has led people to believe that I know what I'm talking about. But I'm still trying to work out how to operate the air conditioning unit on my car.

Why do only boys get to chase? Nuh-uh! If anything I think this whole sitting back and waiting thing can be self-sabotaging. We have to send up flares. We have to let guys know we're open for business.

Obamacare has got everyone on edge. I mean small business - men and women or big business are sitting out there saying we have no idea what this is going to cost but we know it's going to cost us and cost us a lot.

Any time women come together with a collective intention it's a powerful thing. Whether it's sitting down making a quilt in a kitchen preparing a meal in a club reading the same book or around the table playing cards or planning a birthday party when women come together with a collective intention magic happens.

It's not like I'm sitting at home coming up with some secret beauty plan.