I don't know what I would have done so many times in my life if I hadn't had my girlfriends.
I had someone correct my grammar once on a blind date, and within the first 10 minutes the date was over. You just don't correct somebody's grammar. That's just not okay. I'm from Tennessee, so I probably say everything wrong. I might have said 'ain't,' or something like that.
I worry about my kids growing up and how the world might hurt them. But at the same time, I absolutely do not worry about them growing up - because they have great values and a great sense of self.
I think movies are great and I have a great time making them but they're not what keeps you warm at night, or what's ultimately the most important thing in anyone's life journey.
I feel very blessed to have two wonderful, healthy children who keep me completely grounded, sane and throw up on my shoes just before I go to an awards show just so I know to keep it real.
For our first date, I made Ryan Hamburger Helper, which is basically what I grew up on. I make my own version of it now, with macaroni and cheese and hamburger meat. And the kids - it's their favorite dinner.
It's fun to do a comedy and hook people in and then hoodwink them into watching a serious movie. I like to lead in with the comedy and then hit them over the head with a drama.
Somebody close to me once said, 'Oh, no man will ever accept your children.' And I just thought it was the most horrifying thing someone has ever said to me in my entire life. I was determined to find somebody who would make that not true.
I started working on trying to sound like June from the very beginning.
To play June, I had an immediate connect with her background and culture. We grew up with the same religion and shared a lot of the same values of family and spirituality. But I was really so inspired by what a modern woman she was.
There are things in my life that are hard to reconcile, like divorce. Sometimes it is very difficult to make sense of how it could possibly happen. Laying blame is so easy. I don't have time for hate or negativity in my life. There's no room for it.
Everybody needs love. Everyone deserves it.
Many people worry so much about managing their careers, but rarely spend half that much energy managing their LIVES. I want to make my life, not just my job, the best it can be. The rest will work itself out.
Ryan and I didn't grow up like this at all, with this much attention. We'll just try to keep their feet on the ground and raise them with the values we were raised with.
Do I need men? I don't think it's about needing men. It's about love.
When a police officer tells you to stay in the car, you stay in the car.
But with the right kind of coaching and determination you can accomplish anything and the biggest accomplishment that I feel I got from the film was overcoming that fear.
I don't believe in perfection. I don't think there is such a thing. But the energy of wanting things to be great is a perfectionist energy.
I don't think I realised how stressed I was, being a single parent. It was really, really stressful. It's not easy on anybody.
My ex-husband is very involved in raising our beautiful children. We're very lucky because we both grew up in working families in middle America. We're on the same page that way.
