I'm an ambassador for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and one of the children his wish was to go to the Emmys so he's going to be my date along with my husband and my dad and his girlfriend. So we're going to have a really fun night and it's going to be really exciting. I'm really excited for him to experience that.

I used to listen to my dad a lot as a way of trying to be close to him as well because my parents were divorced and I didn't spend that much time with him. And I used to put headphones on and listen to my dad talk and sing and I found that quite... bonding with him in a weird way.

The only other time I can recall my dad getting upset at me was when I missed a hockey practice. My parents were away so my buddy and I decided to skip it. I never told my dad about it but he found out from the coach.

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.

When I found out I got this job I cried of course - I'm a girly-girl - and then I called my dad and he cried too. On so many levels this is a thrill for me.

I found myself very lost after 'The Partridge Family ' and I lost my dad and I lost my manager and I lived in a bubble and it took me 15 years to get through that and a lot of psychotherapy and I'm laughing about it now!

Comedy was why I got into acting the first place. Peter Sellers was a huge influence on my wanting to act. I grew up with him and found him hysterical. The Pink Panther films were an inspiration from my earliest childhood days when I was watching them with my brother and my dad.

Growing up I saw my dad do charity work for children with health issues. That had a profound effect on me.

I have found having my dad as my North Star has worked well for me.

I have always had the feeling I could do anything and my dad told me I could. I was in college before I found out he might be wrong.

When my father died in my arms it had such a profound affect on me that at that very moment when my dad passed I realized that I needed to face my own fears.

You always give credit where credit is due - to high school coaches college coaches - but my dad the foundation that he built with me is where all of this came from. The speed the determination the mindset just the natural belief that you can do anything you put your mind to it all comes from my dad.

The founder of the Mona Foundation actually knew my dad for years and the more I learned about it the more I realized I really found the perfect charity. It sponsors schools and educational initiatives all over the planet.

When I moved out of London 13 years ago I found a whole other reason not to drive. This was because my new husband Dan unlike my dad did drive and this became a great source of fun and adventure.

My dad was dean of fine arts at the university. I was casting bronzes in the school foundry. I was using the university as a playground.

As my dad said you have an obligation to leave the world better than how you found it. And he also reminded us to be givers in this life and not takers.

Optimism is the foundation of courage.