“I was at a place, when I auditioned for the show, I had just had a baby, I was five weeks post-partum, and I just felt like if I wanted to get back into the game and away from my child, it better be in something that was worth it, and that could really be life-changing for a career and our (family) position.

“Also, I wanted to play the role because I was attracted to Kate. She is a character who’s all cool on the outside, and may look like she has things figured out, but when it comes down to it, she doesn’t. She struggles a lot. She struggles with her relationship with her stepmother, with her relationship with her ex-husband … there’s a whole aspect of her dealing with the death of her dad. There’s a lot going on that lead to these great internal conflicts for her, and I really wanted to play those out.”