Quotes

As an actor, you come in contact with so many different people and cultures. It makes you a more accepting person.

I have the most supportive parents and family in the entire world.

I had to get over a Southern accent and go through a lot of obstacles. But I love my job, and I love what I do. If it's something that your parents are pushing you into, it's never going to be rewarding.

I grew up very differently than a lot of other people in my hometown in Mississippi. But I can't imagine my life any other way. I flew home and surprised my best friend at his graduation, and I remember turning to my mom and saying, 'My graduation was so much cooler than this.' I had Melissa Joan Hart give my commencement speech.

I wish somebody would have told me, 'Don't try too hard,' because when I was younger I wanted to try really hard. I wanted to please everybody and be this perfect, polite little girl.

In L.A., it's easy to get wrapped up in this young Hollywood mess. You feel like you have to go out every night. You have to realize that you're here to work. I didn't move out here to party all the time.

I think it's very helpful having Twitter and all that. I mainly talk about work on Twitter. I keep my personal life separate from my work life, but I think it helps because everybody's on the Internet now - everybody has Facebook; everybody has Twitter.

I deal with dogs, and - what comes out of dogs - a lot, and it's definitely not as glamorous as my past life. [2023, on her quitting acting and working for the National Humane Association].

You cannot be in this business for the fame, because it will ruin you as a human being.

[2015] In 'Melissa & Joey', Lennox and I we're kind of ... we've become like the same person at this point you know. I mean after 5 years of playing the character, it's just a second nature to me.

[2010 interview on how she started acting] When I was younger I was in beauty pageants and a dancer, and I'm a singer, so I kind of grew up in it [entertainment industry], and then it was kind of like my family who was, you know, "You should try [acting], it seems like something that would be cool for you." And I did and the first commercial audition I went on, I booked it, and from then on I've [done acting]

[2013] I love Sons of Anarchy which is always so weird when I tell people because I don't look like the type of person who loves it but I do - my dad got me addicted to it!

When I started out I wanted to be Rockette! But - not tall enough. I went to New York and I tried to do Broadway for a while, it didn't work out for me but it led to other things like a lot of print campaigns and commercials and then I realized that I really love being [in front of] the camera. [2015 interview regarding starting in showbusiness]