I'm really passionate about things I enjoy, and I like to be out there doing things, and learning and challenging myself. So it's just more fun that way, just to get out and try and do and learn and meet people and try to do something new.

What happened in the past is just that, the past. Champion or not.

The person who's had the biggest impact on my career is Rick Celebrini, the physiotherapist.

Play because it's fun, and not to become a pro. If your goal is to become pro, the best way to realize that is by loving what you do.

I had wanted to be a novelist for so long, but I didn't have a story. That story came from the death of my father, and wrestling with how to help my mother. Writing it allowed me to work through my fears, frustrations and desires. I wanted control over the situation. And I wasn't sure I would have any in real life.

One of the things you realize when you have a health crisis in your immediate family is that life does not stop so that you can go through that experience.

I'm living in Hollywood, and I'm making movies, but it goes beyond me. If my family is not doing very well, or even OK, you want them to be better.

Anything that gets in the way of my focus to create gets cut out of my life. It's not easy. Sometimes it's family. Sometimes it's friends. Sometimes it's the ability to have a relationship.