In high school I never went to the prom because I was too consumed with gymnastics. Also, with my hair in pigtails and looking about 10, I wasn't exactly date material.
It's really hard to separate fantasy from reality.
I would climb on roofs and jump off using my parents' bed sheet, hoping it would open like a parachute. I was always getting hurt, breaking a leg, you know, bruising, cracking my head open.
There's so much denial in gymnastics. It's a beautiful sport but the other part is numbing. You become machinelike. They'll refute this, but I've been around it. I know.
Flying is such a joy. You just want to hoot.
Nowadays a gold medal is a $1 million contract. Our athletes are our heroes.
It's that athlete's obsessiveness - the need to prove yourself and work harder than anybody else. I think it's what helped me do well in the theater.
I will jump into most any role.
Seeing the show is like a visit to the fountain of youth for parents and the children.
I grew up in a sport that didn't allow you to grow up. There was always the threat of younger competition. So you had to maintain the image of youth.
I have three dogs and a cockatoo.
An athlete learns how to hold her breath, but that doesn't work in singing. You have to learn to relax.
Actually, performing is a lot like golf. You are alone, so vulnerable.
There's no disgrace in failure, the disgrace is not to try.
The thing I received from Girl Scouts more than anything else was a sense of real teamwork and working for the community, helping others, and it was not competitive. I remember working as a group to achieve a goal or to help the community. There was a great sense of accomplishment in that.
Acting allows me the freedom to let go, to be in the moment, to be spontaneous. I no longer have the fear of losing, of failure.
