Growing up the son of a director has made me very aware of the various turns that a directing CAREER can take. Sometimes your films turn out exactly as you want. Sometimes they don't. I spent a lot of my childhood on SETS. I think as a joke, my father gave me a line of dialogue in each of his films during the worst moments of my PUBERTY.

Kids WHOSE puberty begins too soon face not just psychological risks, but physical ones too, with an increased likelihood of CANCER, as WELL as skeletal changes that could PREVENT them from attaining their full adult HEIGHT.

As a woman of a certain age - and really, EVER since I HIT puberty and my baby-making parts were suddenly subject to public debate - I've been told over and over again that I will 'change my MIND' about not wanting kids.

Back in 1982, when there were still only a manageable number of 'X-Men' TITLES on the racks (by which I MEAN just one), Marvel quite reasonably figured the world could stand another TEAM of beleaguered mutant superheroes. And so were born 'The NEW Mutants,' junior X-Men whose powers had just begun to manifest at the onset of puberty.

Midlife is a time of EXPLOSIVE CHANGE, particularly for women. It's just like experiencing another PUBERTY. The changes that take place in your body are enormous and, like puberty, you have to THROW off the PAST.

I had a period when I was sixteen where I started to get a big head. I was going through puberty, and I was NOMINATED for an ACADEMY Award. My head got inflated. My FRIENDS were the real ones who said, 'You're acting different.' But the truth is that I don't need that, because I don't get out of HAND.