My father - a Lebanese-origin small businessman - had a stroke in 1997 and couldn't work anymore. I paused my career and made sure he was taken care of by overseeing the sale of his businesses, but after that, I was able to dedicate myself to politics. It's what I had always wanted.
I haven't taken any new projects in the past years - I told myself, if I cannot live long enough to finish it, I don't want it.
It's not that I'm retired; I just no longer accept acting work.
I started modeling when I was about 2 or 3 years old; I started with Baby Guess, and I did Guess Kids, and that was the extent of my modeling career as a kid. I took all of my elementary, middle and high school years off to focus on school and sports.
I pulled out of making movies in about '96 or '97.
There are generations of women who left the workforce to be moms, and their kids grow up, and they think, "Well, what now?"
I'm a single parent, and I just found that it was too difficult to manage raising my kids and doing the traveling involved in making movies. So I took a little bit of a break. And the little bit of a break turned into a longer break, and then I found that I really didn't miss it.
I did not work for a year after 'Margarita With a Straw'.
In giving birth, I knew that I would have to take a break after I had a baby; I just didn't know that it would be, like, six weeks long. Taking a six-week break was a very big deal for me. I have never taken that long of a break from stand-up other than my honeymoon, which was 14 days long.
I was discovered by Paul Marciano of Guess when I was actually, like, two years old. And so I started with Baby Guess; I did Guess Kids, and then I stopped because I was a really competitive horseback rider and a club volleyball player. I went to Junior Olympic qualifiers for volleyball. So, I kind of stopped modeling.
After I left the 'Daily Show,' I was kind of sitting out for five years. I know what it's like to not be able to have that platform for my voice the way I want it.
I was thinking about making a comeback, until I pulled a muscle vacuuming.
It's been over 15 years since I toured... over 12 years since I did any recording under my own name. I never really intended to take that long of a hiatus.
I quit after my seven-year contract with Universal was up. I quit for 33 years.
There was a solid year and a half, perhaps two years, after making 'Temple Grandin,' when I didn't do anything. I just didn't have much patience for roles that were silly, or light, or inconsequential.
I met my wife and, for the next ten years, we did no films at all. She did the first movie and then I did several after. My first movie was written by Tennessee Williams and directed by Kazan and was called Baby Doll.
I took a long period off to be a mom.
I took 18 months away to have my son, Joseph, and it was the biggest break I'd ever had in my working life of nearly 20 years.
I think because I am as earnest as I am, people were accepting of my evolving into a certified, legitimate, and grown up and I did take three years off.
I never stopped working, but I did let my contract run out. And I didn't really actively pursue it.
I stopped working a few years ago because I just lost a spark that I'd had before. I thought I'd just try writing, and maybe start directing, but I did it very quietly.
I have enjoyed a wonderful run in films, so far, and I may, at some point, come back. But it will be in my own time and in my own style.
After 'Main Hoon Na,' I got married; so I took some time off.
One thing I always want to clear up was the notion that I 'took time off to have a baby.' A lot people leapt to that conclusion because becoming a parent happened to coincide with film roles tapering off.
But then I hit my 20s and only made two albums, and now I live in a ski resort as a ski bum basically.
