Acting and modelling are good, but motherhood is what it's all about.

I don't really want to get married. I've got my career, my friends - my life is very, very full. It's nice to go out to dinner with a man and have fun, but I wouldn't rush into anything because I don't think it's right to bring another man into the house with my four children.

The thing I'm most proud of is that I've raised a lot of money for certain charities - breast cancer and the Caldecott Foundation and the NSPCC. But as far as my self-esteem is concerned, doing 'The Graduate' for 11 months was fantastic.

When I was 16 and arrived in France, I discovered chocolate mousse. I was crazy about the bread, too. Every morning, I'd go to the bakery and get a fresh croissant. It made me feel very sophisticated.

When I was 17, I was at La Coupole brasserie, and Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir asked me to join them at their table. They were fascinated that I'd watched their programme on existentialism back home and wanted to understand nothingness and being.

My mother taught us the man was the head of the family, but the woman was the neck, and you could turn him any way you like.

I have done a lot of theater.

I have very old-fashioned tastes.

I love mysticism - it's such fun.

I'm a bit of a groupie.

I'm a very bad citizen. I've never even voted.

I've always gotten along best with artists.

My favorite dancer is Sylvie Guillem.

The problem with cosmetic surgery is that people who have it can only see how they look in the mirror. They don't realise how weird they look from other angles. I particularly hate the injections that puff out the face, which are hideous.

It's really important for children to have good morals and good manners, and that they're thoughtful of other people and that they learn the consequences of their actions.

People think I'm girlish and flippant, but I was an honours student. I was voted Girl Most Likely To Succeed at North Mesquite High in Texas. My best subject was science. I won a scholarship.

Growing up in Texas, mum had five girls to feed on a very limited budget, so we'd end up eating the same thing until it was gone - some weeks it was carrots.

I think it's great to grow up in a small town because you're just dying to break loose.

We all know pain doesn't exist without some coexisting depression.

I'm a fan of very, very expensive creams: Creme de la Mer, La Prairie Skin Caviar Luxe. I'm a huge fan. They work.

As far as vanity and wrinkles and things like that, that's a part of life I don't worry about. I put on creams, you know, but don't go mad, and I don't have any kind of treatments. I just live a healthy lifestyle. And staying happy, not getting negative and angry, I think that helps, looking at the positive of everything.

Being a parent has been such a wonderful privilege for me. My kids make me laugh and cry, but there are definitely more laughs. They really do give my life meaning.

I always wanted to have a family - that was one of my big wishes. And in school, I'd taken drama, and I'd always wanted to act. I did go to drama school in New York, Los Angeles and London, and I did small parts here and there, but I never really had the time. Modeling was always paying more.

It's better not to wear too much jewellery - just a couple of nice things, nothing too rattly - and stick to kitten heels or flats. Women let themselves down with tall heels. I think they're kind of vulgar. I see women sinking into grass at outdoor parties or tiptoeing over gravel at weddings. It's silly. You need to be practical.