"I sort of became a model by accident, and while the money and the opportunity to travel and see the world was great, modeling was never my ultimate goal."

"The modeling was a gift and a curse. It is not as respected as waiting tables, but hey, I was paying my bills."

"Working on All My Children really prepared me for anything as an actress. I would have looked dumb if I didn't do it right, so I had to work hard to make the lines and situations believable every day. Being on a soap opera is really the best acting experience anyone can get."

"My mom saw an episode where I had a sex scene, and she called me up and said, 'You little slut!' I took a deep swallow, like, 'Oh, my Lord.' Then she started laughing and said, 'I’m so proud of you! You did such a great job. It was so believable!' Thanks, Mom!"

"I’m pretty specific about what’s comfortable. I always feel like, 'This is my body, it’s the only one I have.' I want to make sure I’m not viewed as a T&A kind of girl. You have to stand up for yourself or no one else will."

"There’s a part of every woman that wants to be some wild seductress or superhero."

"The Mountain is definitely a soap opera, but then again so are all television shows -- they are just at different levels. That's what makes television so exciting."

"In acting nothing is stable. Every experience is a new ride and you just have to hold on and pray that you don't fall off"

"If I have to audition for something in the near future I'll just take a deep breath, keep my chin up and jump in."

"I know that I've been very blessed in my career. I was 23 when I decided to start acting -- I must have an angel on my shoulder or something."

"I get paid to pretend to be someone else. I'm so blessed. I'm blessed even to have feet and limbs, a Mom who loves me -- and that's a Mom's job!"

(on her husband)"I love that guy. We were friends for seven years."

(on her previous roles) "I was always whining and crying. It was like ‘Oh, get over it’. So it’s really fun to now help the damsel."

(on cutting her hair)"Before that I was playing the damsel in distress. But when I went for ‘Law & Order,’ and I cut my hair, someone said, ‘There’s a lawyer.’"

"I love that there could be a Latina girl out there watching me, saying, ‘I want to be a lawyer'. That to me is a gift. I’m proud to get to portray a smart, feisty, intelligent female- and I’m Latin."

"As a little girl, I would put on skits for my family. And I remember my mom taking me to see the movie ‘Places in the Heart,’ with Sally Field, and I was so moved by her, and I thought what it would be like to do that."

"A lot of Latin people say, ‘You’re Latin?’ I get Italian a lot."

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