I was really bright as a kid and tested well and it was clear that I was going to get scholarships to any schools I wanted. My dad always said I could be an engineer at that time it was the elite of society: steady job working in science which was then the answer to every problem we had. It was kind of a mandate. Kind of a dream he had for me.

We came from a family where we ran our own small business. Our dad made his own products. We made our own sausages our own meatloafs our own pickles. Dad had to do everything himself. He had to figure out how to finance his business.

I suppose not everyone has a dad who wrote a book saying he didn't believe in the Parliamentary road to socialism.

I'm just as insufferable and useless as every other dad is. The dynamic never changes no matter what you do for a living.

My mother's incredibly giving almost too giving at times. And my dad is a real logical person. He's got logic for every situation. They've been married for 24 years so there was that stability also. I really learned to think on my own at a very young age.

My dad had a movie theater so I was there every night.

Everybody always wants to rebel against their parents' music but nobody listened to music louder than my dad.

I wanted my dad to be proud of me and I fell into acting because there wasn't anything else I could do and in it I found a discipline that I wanted to keep coming back to that I love and I learn about every day.

I finished high school moved to Nashville for college and set out to break into the music business. Every night when I called home with news of my experiences my mom and dad would encourage me to keep taking those small steps.

You know when everyone's watching your mom and dad your friends in high school who thought they were better than you. You get your chance to get in the spotlight and shine.