It was such a paradox for me that the only thing I know how to do is act, but that the first thing I abandoned while writing were the characters.

I've always had the perspective that roles come into my life when I need them most and sort of teach me lessons. The same can be true of films, films are released into society to aid in a lesson, inspire people, comfort people.

I feel like I almost didn't grow up in the business, because my parents worked so hard at sheltering us from that. I was raised in Connecticut. And I honestly wasn't aware that my dad was a celebrity until I moved to Los Angeles a year ago.

It was such a paradox for me that the only thing I know how to do is act, but that the first thing I abandoned while writing were the characters.

'50/50' is a comedy. I shouldn't say it's a buddy comedy because it's not farcical, and it's based on a true story, but it's viewing that experience through a very truthful lens of humour.

Actors are always nervous about not only hurting each other, but maybe perhaps hitting each other's face and ending one's career.

Actors create a fantastic lifestyle thinking they're going to be able to maintain it. Then they can't get work or have to start taking work that doesn't suit them.

After I did 'Orchids,' I enrolled back in film school and did a million and a half workshops and worked with great professors and people, trying to hopefully get better.

As a teenager, I was perpetually grounded. I was stubborn rather than rebellious.

As far as I'm concerned: Chris Pratt for president! He'd save us.

As far as what is the line between human and machine? That's a great question.

Creativity is all around us, and some of the funniest, most beautiful, and touching moments happen when you least expect it.

Directing 'When You Find Me' was one of the most creatively rewarding endeavors of my career.

Do I wish I had never endured postpartum depression? Absolutely. But to deny the experience is to deny who I am.

Everyone in Hollywood has a screenplay.

Everything about doing 'Jurassic World' was a dream come true.

For me, breastfeeding was even more painful than giving birth. And despite a lactation consultant, I felt incompetent. I forged on, barely sleeping, always either breastfeeding or pumping and never getting the hang of it.

Getting on a popular, long-running show like 'Happy Days' is the actor's equivalent of winning the lottery.

Getting to have an opportunity to tell a story that is about mental illness and how it affects one's self and one's community was really something that really meant a lot to me.

I can only really speak for myself and what I've noticed in my kids and the people in my life, but because dinosaurs were real, and yet they seem so fantastical, is why they held such a huge fascination for me as a child. They're so different from human beings.

I created a fitness club with five friends. We have weekly check-ins and a reward system - and group penalties if one of us slacks off.

I definitely managed to do different kinds of things. My focus is usually who the director is, because at the end of the day the director is the storyteller, what the movie is all about. I don't want to participate in something that I don't think is constructive storytelling.

I did a play in New York at the public theater, a Shakespeare play, and M. Night Shyamalan, who is the writer/director of 'The Village,' came and saw me in the play and asked to go to lunch afterwards.

I did karate for years and years and years.

I didn't always want to act. My passion was writing, and it still is one of my primary passions to this day, but it wasn't until high school when I started acting in plays that it became a thought of something I might want to do. And when I applied to colleges, at NYU, I was able to study both writing and acting.

I don't have any friends who are actors through my dad.

I don't know how many roles I can ask my dad to play in my life, but so far, father, best friend, role model, mentor and grandfather to my children are working out quite well.

I found out I was pregnant seven days after my wedding. I was on honeymoon with my family.

I have an amino acid missing that you can only get from certain kinds of eggs. So, I've been eating a few eggs.

I loved being pregnant.

I never really dyed my hair anything significant from my natural hair color.

I shouldn't have acted. I didn't exhibit any ability. I was one of the kids in the school play who was just mouthing words, and they weren't the actual words of the song. I was pretty lame!

I stepped in for Nicole Kidman in 'Dogville' when she left that film.

I struggle immensely with celebrities of all kinds. I get clammy hands and turn a little purple.

I think the success of the 'Twilight' movies, not just the books, comes down to Stephenie Meyer.

I think what's exciting about playing a villain - particularly a villain who's totally unapologetic about their evil intentions - is that it's not anything remotely like what you get to do in real life. You're never allowed to be evil and not feel bad about it afterwards, let alone be evil, period.

I try to focus moment to moment on being an aware, responsible, contributive member of society. You see trash on the ground, pick it up!

I try to go with the flow and have faith that everything is going to work out.

I want to be a good example for my son. That's the best way to parent - to be the example of what you want to see in them. That's definitely how my parents parented and how my grandparents parented. And it works.

I want to be the best actor that I can be; I want to be working in this business absolutely, and if that means being a movie star, then OK, that's fine. But to me, movie star, celebrity, all that stuff means something very different than being an actor.

I was raised in Connecticut. And I honestly wasn't aware that my dad was a celebrity until I moved to Los Angeles a year ago.

I will never reach the success that my dad has felt.

I would amputate my toes to work with Lars von Trier again.

I'm a little Type A, and I have this really thick binder whenever I do a movie where I make a million notes, and in between takes, I'm checking it out.

I'm always looking at my brother and sisters, thinking - do we look inbred, maybe? Maybe a tiny bit.

I'm always trying to figure out what my taste is, what my likes and dislikes are.

I'm drawn toward filmmakers who have a very distinctive voice. I really appreciate people who push themselves and, therefore, push the medium forward.

I'm not a strong cook. I can do the crockpot; that's about it.

I'm not an NRA member, but that doesn't mean I didn't appreciate shooting blanks out of a machine gun.