Growing up, I saw the world as an inspiring place full of interesting people.

Growing up in a very big family, working together and playing together, that is something that has been part of my life since ever I was born. It has advantages and disadvantages. It's like an older style of living where everyone works in the family business.

I studied philosophy at Columbia, then dropped out to do drama at the Lee Strasberg Institute.

My mother persuaded me not to pluck my eyebrows when I was a teenager - right now I'm so grateful I never did! She also taught me to pour 2 kg. of salt in my bath whenever I feel swollen and tired - and to end it with a cold shower. It does wonders.

I've decided the secret of parenting is benevolent neglect.

If children were brought up to become non-conformists it would only ruin their lives. So parents all over China who loved their children told them to do as Chairman Mao said. It was not possible to tell them anything else.

You spend five months filming in outer space and saving the world, and suddenly that kind of family unit and story disappears, and you come crashing back down to Earth, and you have to do your own washing... and most actors are insecure that the last job they did will be their last job ever.

I am a complete sucker for family time.