CHERYL HINES

It's hard being a girl. There are a lot of body image issues that come up and I think the best thing we can do for our kids is lead by example.

It makes me happy to work. And it makes me a better mother to be a happy person.

Everything's weird on 'Curb Your Enthusiasm.'

Once in a while I'll order an omelet, 'cause I'm not very good at making omelets.

Well, I am producing a show that's going to be on NBC this fall. It's called 'School Pride,' and it's a reality show where we're going around the country and renovating schools. It's really great.

The things the writers have me doing on 'Suburgatory' are insane. I think they think it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.

For me anyway, until I was exposed to doing improvisation and walking onto a stage without any script, I would have never felt comfortable enough to walk into a room with someone like Larry David and audition.

Well, usually, when you're doing a sitcom, you get a script and every word or for the most part, is written. So, you know, if it's a 30-minute sitcom, then it's a 35-page script or something like that.

Manipulating people is what's so fun about poker. I love that you can just look into someone's eyes and lie - and it's perfectly acceptable.

I started playing poker in 2003 during my pregnancy, to distract myself from my awful morning sickness. For months all I did was cry and play Texas Hold'em.

I understand a woman who validates herself by getting attention from the opposite sex. I have a friend who is that to a T... Doesn't mean she isn't a good person. That's a funny character to play.

My first job was as a waitress, and I waitressed for a long, long time. I was a very bad waitress. I didn't care if people had ketchup or if they were allergic to fish. It really didn't bother me either way. I didn't care. I was bad, but it was a good way to make money. And it's a fun job if you are working with fun people.

It is weird. People will say, 'Oh my God, I love you.' And I'll say, 'Oh, that's so sweet. Thank you.' And the people who are walking around with me for the first time will say, 'I don't understand what happened. Somebody just told you they love you. I don't even understand what that means.'

Sometimes I don't want to stand around a room full of strangers, chitchatting about nothing, so I'll come late to a party - and leave early. Though now that I'm saying this in a magazine, I'll probably never be invited to another one.

I was a little shocked at how adult some of the humor was, because I was never that into animation before and when I watched 'Shrek' I really laughed out loud.

For my birthday my husband learned to cook and is cooking one day a week for me. But he only likes to do fancy dishes. So we end up with weird, obscure things in the refrigerator.

Bad, quirky poetry might be better than some of the good stuff, because it really comes from the heart.

I'm really 100 per cent invested in 'Suburgatory' right now - I'm really focused on that and really like taking it all in. It's so much fun and I just love this character and I love the guys I work with so I'm just enjoying this right now.

I just learned how to scuba dive. I'd been scared to rely on one little air hose for oxygen, but swimming with all those fish is exhilarating.

While visiting Costa Rica, I was inspired to hear that someone had donated a playground to a local school. So when I returned to L.A., one day I just called the principal of a nearby elementary school and asked what I could do. Five years later, I've helped make over nine schools, repainting, renovating, and fixing up playgrounds.

Well, I was born in Miami, and then I lived for a long time in Tallahassee, and before that, Winter Haven, which is a tiny town in Florida. I was not a city girl.

The suburbs are the American dream, right? Living in a nice house, having a good job, a happy family.

My mom is very Southern and she in real life says things like, 'If you've got it, flaunt it.'

My father had a heart attack and he has heart disease. He had a full recovery, and I'm very lucky, but it certainly made him look at the way he's living and how he's treating his body.

I think as a director you have to make it your own. It'd be a mistake to approach a project with the idea of 'I'm going to do this the way I think somebody else would,' because then you'd never be clear on your idea.