It was sort of just a family sport. My mom and dad were pretty keen golfers when I was young and so were my grandparents, and I just sort of tagged along with them.
My mom’s the best.
My parents divorced when I was young but I was brought up in two really loving households. I didn’t have a contentious relationship with my mom or dad.
One musical that deeply influenced me – and continues to do so – is the 1997 ABC TV movie of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s ‘Cinderella,’ starring Brandy, with Whitney Houston as the Fairy Godmother and Whoopi Goldberg as the prince’s mom.
We had very few things. I had a couple pairs of jeans, a couple shirts. And same with my mom and sister. I think my sister had, like, two toys. We were living off of instant noodles.
My mom is a science teacher in high school, and one of my brothers works in optics at Bell Labs, and so I was always surrounded by it.
My mom always knew I was going to be an actor because I was a ham from the very beginning, so she would push me toward it, which is really unconventional for Indian families to do.
I was raised by a single mom. I spent most of my time in daycare.
I had no idea of the size of my bank account as a teen, and I didn’t care to know. That was my mom’s job, I figured that I would just find out when I turned 18. If you can’t trust your mom, then who can you trust?
My mom was a saint. She taught me to be terminally nice.
Being a mom makes you far more compassionate. You have more empathy for people, more love. I was always taught to say thank you, and I’m very grateful. And my kids have that quality, too.
From my childhood, my mom always told me to stay pretty clean and not put anything on my skin. That definitely helped me because I never wear too much makeup.
I hated having my hair down because it got into my face when I was playing sports. My mom would always put my hair down and make it all pretty, and by the time I got to school, I would have it up in a ponytail.
I think having a strong female figure in my mom as an in-house role model was huge and really motivated me to continue to pursue my passion and my dreams.
Mom ran the house, so we grew up Portuguese.
Sometimes, when I’m scolding the kids, I sound just like my mom. I’m like, ‘How did Jonetta get in here?’
I grew up a poor kid to a single mom, so as an African-American actor I have a responsibility to hold the mirror up and reflect our stories. I’m living the dream and also escaped the inevitable.
My mom’s family is Russian Jewish, and my dad’s Puerto Rico Catholic, so it’s kind of a weird mix.
Before being a mom, I remember going on a Twitter rant during the whole George Zimmerman trial in Florida about my younger brothers and how one day I’ll be the mom of a black son.
I always tell people I think my mom had me when I was 5 feet, 3 inches – I don’t remember ever growing.
Some of my first memories are waiting for my father to finish his day at work in the University of Washington library and come out and jump in the car with my mom and myself, and we’d be sitting there reading books, and then we’d go home.
My mom’s never been married. I’ve never even seen my mom kiss a dude.
Having been raised very disciplined, I had to iron for my mom every Friday afternoon after school.
My parents know I was outgoing as a child, and whenever people came over, I’d automatically do impressions of them as soon as they left; it was my mom’s favorite thing. Yes, I grew up in Hollywood, but not in any rich neighborhood.
I grew up in Beijing and Beijing roast duck is my favorite. My mom makes it every year for Christmas Eve. How crispy the skin is is how good a duck restaurant is.
