As a child, I didn’t know what I didn’t have. I’m thankful for the challenges early on in my life because now I have a perspective on the world and kind of know what’s important.
How much time have I wasted on diets and what I look like? People are saying ‘We love you and love what you do’ and you’re sitting there thinking ‘I’m not skinny enough or pretty enough.’ It’s taken a lot of work to get over that.
I could have easily been too afraid to say ‘yes’ to Chicago, because it requires so much I haven’t done before. If I am a flop at singing and dancing, maybe my love for it will carry me through.
Finding the one is not just a feeling, it’s an educated guess. I feel like I chose someone to share my life with who is my friend.
I mean, I grew up in the Valley. All my friends were white Jewish kids. So the Latino kids thought I was this white girl.
You’ll never see me at the launch of the new PlayStation or some club. For me, the fun stuff is being able to get my mom tickets to ‘Dancing With the Stars’ – she loves Mario Lopez.
What’s kind of wonderful about being the voice in an animated film is you’re a small part of an enormous production. And in a way, you get to remain a little bit objective.
It would be impossible to be a woman in Western culture and not have your own issues about your image and what you look like.
I really hate the duties of being a celebrity, like getting dressed up for the red carpet.
I’m not ashamed to say that I cried at an animation movie.
I was an open, smiley and gregarious child. I could make friends in 30 seconds wherever I went.
I was just so lucky with ‘Real Women Have Curves.’ At that point, I would have done an insurance commercial. I would have done anything.
I was young not too long ago, and I know the last thing you want is someone preaching to you.
I’m not going to miss wearing the braces very much.
I’m the first one in line to go watch “Spider-Man,” but there’s definitely something in me that makes me want to go to a movie and see something that makes me feel good about life.
When you finish a series like ‘Ugly Betty,’ there are so many voices around you telling you what you should be doing next and what would be good for your future, sometimes you can’t hear yourself. I’ve gotten pretty good at tuning everyone else out. Now it’s just me; what pleases me creatively.
Nowadays I’d describe myself as earnest, terribly earnest. I’m the person who wants everybody in the room to feel important and happy.
The name America has definitely grown on me. I wish there was a big patriotic story behind it, but the truth is that my grandfather was a librarian who knew all sorts of random facts.
The first time I landed in New York and got a cab to my hotel, I was completely struck by it: a feeling of life and chaos, 24 hours around the clock, just like in London. And whatever your problem is, it’s insignificant. You’re just a small part of something very big.
My siblings are my best friends.
Sometimes I worry more about losing weight than gaining weight, because this is how people know and accept me.