Once I took a bus from my home in Maryland to Philadelphia to live on the streets with some musicians for a few weeks, and then my parents sent me to boarding school at Andover to shape me up.

So many people have said that to me, that what they really like about Alex is what she brings out in Marissa, and what this situation brings out in her, a hint of happiness and another side to her character.

But even if I'm left high and dry at the end of this wild journey, just taking it is a great feeling.

I'm now convinced that I'm a doctor. I mean, if someone says they have a pain, I'm like, 'Well, that's your spleen.'

When you choose to be an actor, you are going against the odds.

I was a handful growing up.

From a very early age, I made my decisions based on careers that I admire. The one thing that all the actresses I love have in common is that they have diversity in their careers.

Inspiration is the key to everything.

The mark of a good marriage is partnership and continuing to feel inspired by your spouse. I had that with Tao. But the end is not necessarily the tragedy. Staying in a relationship that is no longer working is the tragedy. Living unhappily - that's the tragedy.

Once I took a bus from my home in Maryland to Philadelphia to live on the streets with some musicians for a few weeks, and then my parents sent me to boarding school at Andover to shape me up.

If I'm left high and dry at the end of this wild journey, just taking it is a great feeling.

I fell in love with theater there, and after graduation I moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting.

When you're a working actor and you're happy to be one, you can't focus all your energy on acting because you will go crazy. You have to focus as much energy as you can away from yourself.

I was a tomboy and I didn't have a bunch of brothers but I always wanted them and so I sort of adopted a few of my great friends to be my brother.

I got an internship with the casting director of The Girl Next Door. I would hold the clipboard and help them in their casting sessions and get them lunch.

I'm a natural blonde, but I feel like a brunette. I feel like people treat me now how I should be treated. People used to be shocked, when I was blond, that I wasn't stupid.

I'm opening up my heart to the idea of dating. It's funny - my friends would always come to me for romantic advice. I know nothing, and things have changed since I was dating in high school! I'm really trying hard to spend this time working on myself.

I went through a phase when I was 13 where I would only fall in love with people over the age of 19 or 20. I never had a real relationship with any of these people, but it was definitely the guy I wanted to hang out with and wanted to go on trips with. I would be like, 'But, Daddy, he's a musician!'.

Now I'm doing a film festival for kids and writing a script about a kidnapped journalist in Afghanistan.

A good litmus test is that you should be comfortable with your significant other being present when you hang out with your friend.

A lot of people assume that women of a certain age who are not unattractive have no excuse for not having a perfect life. But you can have emotional baggage that is dragging you down like cement blocks tied to your feet.

All actors should experience public failure.

As you get older, you start to really ask questions like, 'Is this the road I should be walking down?,' because every decision seems more final, as you get older.

At one point I thought changing my name might help with privacy, but that was before the Internet.

At the end of your twenties, you realize you are inherently flawed, and that's great, and that's what makes you dynamic.

Believe it or not, I'm a big fan of patchouli oil. I know it's not a universally liked fragrance. I usually combine it with other essential oils - I have many mixtures I like.

Cleanses and products don't make you look more beautiful. They certainly help, but if you reach contentment, you're set. My makeup artist, Melanie Iglesias, couldn't figure out why my skin looks so good. I think it's because I'm happy!

Documentaries are a powerful and effective way of bridging the gap between worlds, breaking through to new audiences that wouldn't otherwise be engaged - in essence, not preaching to the choir.

Early on, I knew I had ideas, but I wasn't sure when it was appropriate to bring them to the table, and I was so intimidated by these titans that I was working for. But it started around the time of 'Tron,' when I was really excited by the creative process and the prep that went into that. I spoke up often at those writing sessions.

Fear of carbs, of gluten, of everything - we've distanced ourselves from the beauty of food, the art of it. It makes me sad when people say, 'Oh, I don't eat gluten. I don't eat cheese. I don't eat this. So I eat cardboard.'

I actually happened to be in Haiti right before the earthquake in 2010. I was there already with the organization I work with now, Artists for Peace and Justice, visiting the primary school that I had adopted, the Academy for Peace and Justice in Port-au-Prince. I came back, and within days, the earthquake happened.

I actually think the subject of young divorce is pretty funny; I'd like to write a movie about it.

I am a big music nerd.

I am so saddened and grossed out by young women who look like creepy, old aliens because of their new Barbie noses and lips. Is that a smile or a grimace?

I consider my education to be the first 10 years of my career.

I do not tweeze my eyebrows. I've been letting them grow out for years. I try to fill them in wherever nature has abandoned me.

I don't own a scale, and Tao banned the word 'fat' from our house. If we eat too much, we say, 'I feel clogged up.'

I enjoy getting gussied up for an event or date night.

I feel like fashion should not happen in the morning.

I feel like the luckiest child in the world because I got to grow up in Ireland. In summer is when you really grow up. During the year, I would go back to the States, and all year long really couldn't wait to get back to Ardmore.

I feel like the luckiest person on the planet. 'Tron' was such a departure for me.

I got a divorce, and I felt like I finally started my career. I started making movies and projects that I just really believed in.

I grew up being told by my parents each time they went off to war that they may explode, so I needed to know how things like the gadgets in the kitchen worked.

I guess for my skin, I clean it and moisturize and try to drink water. How boring is this though? I'm convinced that it comes from within. If you're happy and healthy, it shows.

I have a great pack of female friends, but I also have a lot of guy friends. I believe that platonic relationship is entirely possible.

I have very high standards for every part of life - my work, my relationships, food, love. I can't just pretend.

I love eye makeup. I really like doing a cat eye, playing with liquid liners and different colors of liners, like emerald and deep blues, combining them with black.

I love kids with a passion I usually reserve for hot cheese, miniature chairs, and Prince concerts, but I feel no stress to reproduce simply because of a fear of withering eggs.

I love yoga and hiking - I think that's the perfect combo.