Failure can only open more doors for you as a person and as growth and life.

I know it sounds very cliché and not very exciting, but if I'm outdoors - in the wild or the ocean or the forest - it inspires me.

I try to just take in every moment of being alive.

Statistically, Portland, Oregon has the most street kids, like kids that run away from home and live on the street. Its like a whole culture thing there. If you walk around on the streets, there are kids living on the streets, begging for money, but its almost like a cool thing. They all just sit around and play music and squat.

I think that just being alive inspires me.

I started acting when I moved to California when I was nineteen. I started auditioning. I was waiting on my manager at the time. I was waiting on her table, and she sent me on an audition. From there, I just kept auditioning and, luckily, got parts.

In L.A., it's very easy to be healthy, because everybody there is so health conscious that no matter where you go, everybody is exercising or eating very healthy, and they have a lot of farmers markets. The problem is when you go on location or I go home to Wisconsin. That's where it gets difficult.