Creativity is one of the most important brain functions in developing youth. It is the ultimate road to invention. I believe it is really important to both nurture and encourage this in children - and adults, too!

Everything I am is because of my mom.

There's a part of me that will always believe that Angel is Buffy's true love. That there will be a piece of her heart that will always be with him for the rest of her life.

Really, how bad is eating a piece of cake? Being bad is murdering someone. That's bad. Don't do that.

But there are still only certain film genres where a woman can stand out, be heroic, be the centerpiece.

You have to remember once in a while that you can actually stop working and appreciate things.

I love Australia. My dream would be to have a place to live there and be able to commute back and forth

The flashbacks are a great way to give answers to the story.

I don't smoke, don't drink much, and go to the gym five times a week. I live a healthy lifestyle and feel great. I can run a marathon, you know.

Being outspoken has always gotten me into trouble. I'm just this little thing and then all of a sudden it comes out.

I believe in myself, and I've always had people behind me who believed in me. With that, you can do anything.

You'll never know what you're capable of if you don't try.

I like food. I like eating. And I don't want to deprive myself of good food.

I think it's a mistake if people just fall in love and think that that's the only thing you need to keep you happy. There's a lot more to being with someone than just love.

I also want the chance to work with some of the best actors in the business, because that's where you can learn so much by just being on a set and getting a feel for how they approach their role and how they work with you

I actually go to the gym much more now than I did when I was on Buffy. I like to stay fit, because that's when I feel really healthy. But I never worked out for any kind of image. People have said to me, 'Do you starve yourself before photo shoots?' And I always say, 'No way.! That's what airbrushing is for. I had french fries last night.'

Being an actor gives you a chance to play all kinds of roles, very moving and dramatic on one project, silly and girlish on another. That's the most interesting thing out this business, you get to keep reinventing yourself.

I love every minute in the kitchen with my kids, even the mess (I've learned to embrace it!). I find that in the car on the way home from school, I often get one-word answers when I ask about their day. But when we're cooking, I get in-depth stories.

People always tell me how lucky I am that my kids are adventurous eaters, but I don't believe that it's luck at all. By my involving them in the process, not only are they more likely to try something new, but also I can count on them to make better choices when I'm not around.

I started to watch Damages and all of these amazing, female-driven shows, and it was something that was always in the back of my mind. Then, once I had my daughter, I realized that I was done living the romantic lifestyle, and nothing offers that more than television.

I was very burned out after Buffy. It was exhausting. It took me from essentially 18 on the pilot to being 24 and married when we finished. That show was my life. I was doing movies on the hiatuses and on weekends, but I needed to explore and live that gypsy lifestyle.

I think Buffy was a grown-up. One of the amazing things about the show was that I was able to grow with her. Yes, she started in high school, and then she went to college, and then essentially she was a mother to all the other Slayers, so I always felt like Buffy was a grown-up.

TV has changed so much, from the fact that there are so many channels available now to spoilers. There were no blogs when I was on Buffy. There were no weekly magazines, aside from People. Now, to be able keep your secrets for your show is so hard.

When picking a show, I took into consideration who my fans are. Let's be honest, Buffy was a mid-season replacement on The WB, based on a failed movie. If it wasn't for the outpouring of fans and critics supporting us, we would have been canceled after four episodes. Sure, you want to stretch and you want to do different things, but it's also our job to think about who our fans are and what they want to see. Ultimately, that's why we do.

I traveled and worked with amazing actors, like Andy Garcia, Alec Baldwin, Brendan Fraser, Forest Whitaker, Lee Pace. It was this great learning experience. And then, I started watching a lot of television. I was always in these foreign countries and I would get TV shows on DVD, and I started to realize that all of the amazing roles for women were on television. I was spoiled by Buffy because I thought that was the way it was everywhere, and it's not.

I'm fascinated by twins. It's such an interesting thing. I'm an only child, so I don't have a sibling. But, if you think about the bond that siblings have, that intensifies so much when you think about being in the womb together.

The nomadic lifestyle does work for a lot of working parents, but I've traveled and I've seen it, and I want to be able to go home at night and see my daughter. I want to be there for her first day of school and her school recital. Honestly, television is what offers me that.

Well, that's the old story I heard about the Jackie Chan films. That, like, Jackie Chan will just keep going and when crew members drop he just replaces them. I don't know if that's true but after having worked in Japan I believe it might be true.

I also think it was important for me and Freddie to be able to have a lot of time to share our lives at the beginning of our marriage rather than my coming home at 9 or 10 at night from the set. Things have really worked out for the best for both of us.

I think that this industry in particular is so fast-paced that you keep saying, 'I'll take vacation later.' Sometimes later never comes. I'm definitely leading a much slower life now that I'm not working every single day on a television series.

I think actually what I'm going to do when I'm done and take my next vacation, is I'm going to go over and start unions in Japan. I'm going to unionize Japan. Because the way they work those crews is so criminal. There's no overtime, so they can just keep going.

It's been hard to be a show in L.A. and be trendsetting, because the fashions are in New York... Not to mention that most actresses are all, give or take, the same size, between five-two and five-five, and 95 to 125 pounds.

People tell me not to do a soap, but it was a great learning experience because I became familiar with the technical aspects of the business. Besides, look who came out of soaps - Julianne Moore, Demi Moore, Tommy Lee Jones, Parker Posey, Kathleen Turner. All amazing people.

Normal is such a hard word to use, because everyone's idea of normal is different. Real is what the word is. I think you either live a real life or you live a weird celebrity pseudolife. I think I lead a really real life.