Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
My wardrobe for 'Suits' isn't like 'Working Girl' - dressing for work doesn't have to be so on-the-nose these days. The key is to have your own point of view attached to it. Personally, I love cropped pants in vegan leather, a great fitted blazer, and a button-down.
It's all about balance, and I have so much happiness in my career and am fortunate to travel the world and see so many amazing things - it will also be nice to be anchored to something grounded and in the same place. Raising a family will be a wonderful part of that.
I'm consistently asked how I keep a foot in two contrasting worlds - one in the entertainment industry, predicated on wealth and indulgence, and the other in humanitarian work. To me, it's less of a question of how can you do this, and more a question of how can you not?
Kindness is the No. 1 quality I look for in a man. You can see in how he treats anyone - from a CEO to a housekeeper - and it's a reflection of how nice a guy is. Funniness and confidence come after that... When a guy approaches me, it's fantastic if he can make me laugh.
At the end of the day, if the guy is going to write the girl a letter, whether it's chicken scratch or scribble or looks like a doctor's note, if he takes the time to put pen to paper and not type something, there's something so incredibly romantic and beautiful about that.
I will always find my light. No question. And if I don't, I'll know, because my dad will be the first person to call me and say, like, 'You need to have him bring another 2K in,' and 'Why aren't you using this sort of lighting gel?' The crew guys know that it's where I grew up.
Women who have understood fashion and style for so long have always known it's not about having more pieces. It's about having the right pieces and having the pieces that are of a great quality and look like you know what you're doing. You don't have to have a million things on.
Make a choice: continue living your life feeling muddled in this abyss of self-misunderstanding, or you find your identity independent of it. You push for colour-blind casting; you draw your own box. You introduce yourself as who you are, not what colour your parents happen to be.
Some women are able to wake up looking effortlessly chic - as though a bevy of fashion fairies twisted their low-lit locks into a messy chignon while they slept. They choose a frock from their exceptionally curated closet and leave a trail of custom fragrance and perfection in their wake.
I used to be a calligrapher for weddings and events - that was my side job while I was auditioning. I think handwritten notes are a lost art form. When I booked my first pilot, my dad wrote me a letter that I still have. The idea of someone taking the time to put pen to paper is really special.
Make sure you are safe, and never ever put yourself in a compromising situation, but once that is checked off the list, I think it's really important for us to remember that someone needs us, and that your act of giving/helping/doing can truly become an act of grace once you get out of your head.
Just as black and white, when mixed, make grey, in many ways that's what it did to my self-identity: it created a murky area of who I was, a haze around how people connected with me. I was grey. And who wants to be this indifferent colour, devoid of depth and stuck in the middle? I certainly didn't.
Mom cooked a lot of turkey when I was growing up. Turkey meatloaf, turkey burgers, ground turkey shepherd's pie - my childhood was the Bubba Gump of turkey. You'd think I would be sick of it, but when I find gems like Gwyneth Paltrow's turkey meatball recipe, it's as though the fowl is no longer foul to me.
Being 'ethnically ambiguous', as I was pegged in the industry, meant I could audition for virtually any role. Morphing from Latina when I was dressed in red, to African American when in mustard yellow, my closet filled with fashionable frocks to make me look as racially varied as an Eighties Benetton poster.
There couldn't possibly be a more label-driven industry than acting, seeing as every audition comes with a character breakdown: 'Beautiful, sassy, Latina, 20s'; 'African American, urban, pretty, early 30s'; 'Caucasian, blonde, modern girl next door'. Every role has a label; every casting is for something specific.
I am a California girl, born and raised, so flip-flops and cutoff shorts are my go-to look. An easy Angeleno uniform, so to speak. But for my role on 'Suits,' I'm dressed in Alexander McQueen, Tom Ford, and Prada almost every day. And therein lies the difference. For work, I wear art; in real life, I wear clothes.
I love the opportunity to get properly dressed up. I've worn three Lanvin dresses, and they've all been a dream. They're so well made, with the most beautiful craftsmanship. I don't tend to go with things that are ornate - just beautifully made pieces and some classic jewelry. Let the work speak for itself. I love that.
The one thing that I cannot live without when I'm traveling is a small container of tea tree oil. It's not the most glamorous thing, but if you get a cut, a mosquito bite, a small breakout, no matter what it is, it's my little cure-all. It's inexpensive, it's small enough to carry on, and I bring it with me all the time.
By the time 'Suits' had come around, I had been acting for maybe six years. 'Deal or No Deal' - I like to call it my very lucrative waitressing job. Most actors find a way to make a living while they're auditioning, and for me, holding a briefcase was an incredibly lucrative means of being able to pursue what I really wanted to do.
I have always loved watermelon and relish any opportunity to eat it, whether plain or diced up with feta and mint and tossed with a little olive oil. It makes me think of summertime. On set and at home, I try to always have a container of watermelon sprinkled with cinnamon because it elevates the flavor just a notch and makes it feel special.
I had always been the theater nerd at Northwestern University. I knew I wanted to do acting, but I hated the idea of being this cliche - a girl from L.A. who decides to be an actress. I wanted more than that, and I had always loved politics, so I ended up changing my major completely, and double-majoring in theater and international relations.
At the start of each week, I generally cook a box of quinoa, and while it's simmering, I saute onions, garlic and any veggies I have on hand in a separate pan. I season the vegetables with Spike, a seasoning blend my mom always used when I was growing up, or a little Bragg Liquid Aminos. I always add crushed red pepper and chopped fresh herbs.