I'm a blue-collar Chicago girl raised on wonderful movies my mom took us to, ones that had a lot of heart.

If I've learned one thing in life, it's: Stand for something or you'll fall for anything.

My only power is my ability to do something with passion and do it well. It's also something someone cannot take way from me, so it's very valuable.

I think you have to see the high highs and the low lows to get to the core of what makes us tick as people.

There's nothing funnier than religion. Try explaining it to a kid. I had it all wrong when I was a kid.

Because I've been so blessed with a background in nursing and spent so much time with patients at a really intimate, vulnerable time in their lives, the one lesson I've learned is that you never turn down a challenge where you can keep your creative integrity and your heart and soul and your sense of self.