The actors I respect are the ones who see it as a career and manage to live reasonably normal lives, like Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Coats are my favorite thing, and it's always cold in England. I'm comfortable spending a bit of money if you know you're going to be wearing it 10 years later.

I like to think that at the end of a show, you can just take your costume off and go to the pub.

With acting, I've got a character to inhabit. You've got to think about your intentions and your directions. In modeling, even though there's an act to it, a good model is a good model. For me it's uncomfortable territory. You start to feel quite insecure about yourself. There's nothing between you and the camera, and it's just you.

Once the travel guide came out and won an award, once I got an MFA in creative writing, once I sold my next novel, I finally started telling people that I was a writer. I remember how special that year felt.

It's always exciting to see different cities I love, and go on tour buses. It's so much fun to travel. My favorite part is being able to perform live in front of all these amazing people; being able to connect with them and seeing their reaction makes me feel very special.

Many people don't know, but American Girl Scouts get to travel the world, and that's a very good thing, as the more we can expose our young people to other cultures, the better off we'll be in this increasingly globalized environment.

I don't want to get back into the pressure cooker of play-by-play and worry about travel. I don't want to die in a stadium parking lot.