Diabetes is a degenerative disease. If you don't take care of it, you'll waste away and die. Still, for the first four years, I didn't care if I used sugar; I did whatever I wanted to. Although I gave myself two injections of insulin everyday, I denied to myself that I was sick.
Getting up in front of people gave me a big kick. I thought that that was what acting was all about.
I don't mind playing a part younger than my age. It's the role that counts.
I don't want you to get the impression that because I'm a diabetic, I can t have a normal, active life.
I go to the doctor's, wash the car, do the laundry, help Mom around the house, take the animals out, and all that exciting stuff.
I had to start being aware of what I ate, what I'm planning to eat and take my twice-daily medication accordingly. That's not so difficult now, but when you're 10 years old, it's tough, let me tell you.
I have a scene in which my father shoots the deer and I get hysterical. I was sick for three days after I did that scene. It takes a lot out of you to do something like that.
I haven't had that many crushes yet, except Tom Selleck.
I know all the critics.
I like school very much, and I'll go to college if my career slows down. But kids go to college to be where I am today. Not to put college down, but for me, it would be digressing.
I love TV. I know all the theme songs from the shows I watch. I'm not one of those who'd rather be a movie star. I prefer TV because of the rushed way of working-on a movie set, you sit around and wait and wait to do a scene because they're adjusting the lights.
I miss playing to a live studio audience.
I think a girl can be feminine even if she's an athlete. You just can't be afraid to get dirty.
I used the diabetes as my weapon. Of course, I was only hurting myself and making myself sicker, but I guess it was something I had to go through. I never went overboard so much that I really hurt myself, but my early teenage years were very tough.
I was involved in athletics all through high school.
I was one of the few kids who could spin a basketball on my fingertip and that's what a soft drink commercial called for.
I was up for a part in Wonder Woman. I had a lesson, went home, fell asleep, and when I woke up from the nap, something clicked in me. It was a breakthrough for me. I knew you had to be yourself.
I wasn't big on track. It was only something I did for a few years. It was a nice experience.
I wasn't on the team because I was a girl. I was on it because I earned it.
I went from being oblivious to food to having to concentrate on my body and really worry about it.
I went through a period when I didn't handle this well. My life was over; forget it; it's not worth going on.
I'd be nervous about skiing, wondering what I'd do if I felt shaky on top of a mountain; but other diabetics do ski, so there's no reason I couldn't.
I'm a lot like Gabby, always trying to find the humor in things.
I'm a lot luckier than most people, although I used to look at it the other way around-that so many people seemed luckier than me.
I'm a normal teen-ager except for my size.
I'm getting bosoms and things. Hair under my arms. Hips.
I'm not in any hurry to play seductive ladies. I have plenty of time for that.
I'm starting to get sent scripts, but I'm not there yet.
If I can help only 10 other kids learn more about juvenile diabetes, it will be worth the time.
If I couldn't act, I'd want to teach English in a grammar school. But the way it's going now, every time I think of starting college, I end up on location for a movie.
If I was to establish myself it would be on my own ability, not because of a family name.
If one thing that bothers me about acting, it's that there's no clear-cut number one. The closest you can get is winning an Academy Award, and I'm going to work on that if it takes me the next 50 years. To my peers, it will mean that I'm the best!
In sports and acting, you're in front of a crowd, and you like to to hear the fans cheer.
Looking young doesn't bother me, because I have for a long time. I've accepted it. Besides, the jobs I get because I do look young are so much greater!
My brothers went through a period of jealousy about my job, but at home, my job isn't any more important than anything they do.
My dad's well known in the business. I changed my name so I could do it on my own.
My friends and I goof around, go to the movies, go shopping, stuff like that.
My lifelong dream was to be a basketball player and get a scholarship.
My mother keeps things in perspective for me. She makes me realize that the acting I do and love is no more important than what one of my brothers does-he works in a shoe repair shop. If my career ever tapers off, I'll go to college.
Now my only goal is an Academy Award, but if I don't get one, I'm certainly not going to put a gun to my head.
Now that I'm more mature, in a funny way, I can even appreciate that I've bad to become more aware of my body. Since I've chosen acting as my career, I have to keep my weight down anyway-I've been used to it for years, so it's no problem. And there's nothing I can't do.
On a scale of one to 10, I'd say I'm around four or five. I have a long way to go, but the first few steps are the hardest.
One day they needed a young girl for a commercial in a hurry, and I jumped in and did it. From then on, I knew I wanted to act.
Other people feel I've been lucky, but I know I've had to work for my success just as hard as the person who's a straight A student, because she or he studied for it.
People are never quiet. It's go, go, go. I'm a go-getter, but you need rest and silence, just to sit around and think about things.
People thought I was so good in Shoot the Moon that I couldn't top it. I had a point to prove.
Recent research has found that the proteins in natural insulin may be related to growth and development.
The whole diabetes thing was quite a trauma for me. But if you look at the great actresses, they've been through a lot. You can draw on that. Even though the situations in movies aren't similar to what you've experienced in life, the emotions are similar.
They slapped a lot of makeup on me and fixed my hair in an older style. I passed the test.
Tom Selleck is really nice. He's gorgeous, he told great jokes, and we laughed all week making the show.
When I'm alone or with my younger brothers, trying to get waited on in a store or restaurant, I find adults tend to brush children aside. On the other hand, whenever people find out how old I am, they find the contrast interesting.
You grow up fast in Hollywood. A lot of people say that's bad. But for me, it's been good.
You need to feel good about yourself, the motivation has to come from within. You have nobody to fall back on except yourself.
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