I went to something like six different schools before the age of 12, so I was always the new girl and had to make friends quickly. It was difficult at the start because I was very bookish - I was literally sat in the corner reading books, with no friends.
I came into politics because of my opposition to what a Tory Government was doing to the community I grew up in.
'Sesame Street' is awesome - not only because they teach, edify and entertain kids but because they savvily make it possible to do so with parental engagement, because the show is loaded with references for Mom and Dad.
I love to act because I love trying on other people's skin.
Planting native species in our gardens and communities is increasingly important, because indigenous insects, birds and wildlife rely on them. Over thousands, and sometimes millions, of years they have co-evolved to live in local climate and soil conditions.
I find it hard to get enthusiastic about hotels because, as a touring comic, I spend a lot of time in them.
I've never been someone who's been given work because of the way I look or because I have some box office appeal. I get work because people know I'm swinging as hard as I can, trying to connect, giving it my level best. I have a face for radio, but here I am doing what I do.
I was always friends with a lot of guys, maybe because their girlfriends were girly-girls, and they felt safe with me.
Yeah, I'm obnoxious, yeah, I cut people off, yeah, I'm rude. You know why? Because you're busy.
To be honest, I think about the clubs when I write. But I should probably start thinking about stadiums, because the songs sound even better there - and bigger.
There are vivid memories from my childhood - what we had to go through because of low wages and the conditions, basically because there was no union. I suppose, if I wanted to be fair, I could say that I'm trying to settle a personal score. I could dramatize it by saying that I want to bring social justice to farm workers.
From my old neighborhood, I learned nothing was guaranteed, not even life itself. You better get it today, because tomorrow is not promised.
'Harold and Maude' was a seminal movie for me because it's not only a beautiful love story, but it's also about the moment when misfits find each other.
Stand-up is my foundation. That's where it started at. And I love it because it's personal. It's mine. It's all me. It's my experience in life.
If you look at 2009, why did the recovery happen? Recovery happened because somebody in the world's largest economy opened the tap: the U.S., followed by Europe and now Japan.
I don't see my singing for films as a transition from singing my own songs because I see it as part of the same picture.
I do think that when you get older, you kind of learn not to judge because you realise that no one's perfect, and we're all fighting our own private demons.
People are calling a lot, sending scripts my way. Yes, it's wonderful because, let's face it, there aren't many wonderful scripts for women over the age of 10.
Everything I was told should be my greatest insecurities and weaknesses, everything that I've been labeled - short, nerdy, skinny, weak, impulsive, ugly, tomboy, poor, rebel, loud, freak, crazy - turned out to be my greatest strengths. I didn't become successful in spite of them. I became successful because of them.
The leaders come up from the volunteers that do the work, and it's amazing because then they do these incredible things in their community that they never thought they had the power to make that happen.
I think my most happy and carefree state was 2012 because I really did say, 'Forget everything. I'm going to play for myself.'
In all these years, I've always tried to emphasize and to promote the need to combat the Mafia. Because it is a cancer which is oppressive and which stifles everybody's freedom and reduces the possibility for the areas in which it's present to prosper and to develop.
Music bears a great responsibility because it is so influential. Everybody listens to music. It is a very influential tool. To me, it is very important to the world... music is... to being... to life.
One of my inspirations, Harry Houdini, remains an icon of the art because he defied our primal fears. His demonstrations in the early 20th century, especially his escape from the Chinese water torture cell, represented triumph over suffocation, drowning, disorientation and helplessness.
For the most part, I meet people who are like 'I really like your work. I'm watching your career. I want to see you do well. Keep doing what you do.' I get that so much, and it's so reassuring. I often wish that so many people, who just work normal jobs, could get a pat on the back as much as I do, because it's very complimentary.
I was a mediocre basketball player. But I was there, and I could remember the plays. And my basketball coach, after he retired from teaching, would come to my performances all the time. And I was very happy about that, because I was not memorable as a basketball player.
Children are being adultified because our economy is depending on them to make purchasing decisions. So they're essentially the victims of a marketing and capitalist machine gone awry.
If I really treated business like a businessman, I wouldn't have done what I have done - opposing China. No businessman in their right mind would do this because you know that there will be repercussions.
It's cool because football, as much as it gives, it takes away a lot, too.
I've heard people tell me there's never been a gay character like Agron on TV before, and some fans have even thanked me because they now feel like they have a gay action hero, and it's very endearing to hear that kind of stuff. But I just played him the way he was and tried to do right by the character.
I do take class because I still dance, and yes, I do slip into class with the Royal Ballet from time to time.
People who read fiction are different from other people because they are people who are interested in an imagined world.
I wanted to go on the red carpet with a baseball cap, t-shirt, and jeans. And I still do. Because that's really who I am.
I started playing the violin at age 3, and I was very fortunate because there were people who heard me who were influential in getting me auditions. By the time I was 7, I was playing concerts - it was just ridiculous.
I knew I didn't want to pursue an academic career at all, which, of course, my father would have loved me to have done. I didn't want to go to university. The only other thing I could do was paint, and so I went to art school because they couldn't conceive of how one would be an actor.
Because of the nature of my brand, it's so important our readers know it really is me behind my keyboard.
