Favorite current films: Argo, Searching For Sugarman (documentary), Intouchables, A Royal Affair, The Impossible, Django Unchained.
Favorite past films: Rainman, Gran Torino, Erin Brockovitch, Marathon Man, Glengarry Glen Ross, Schindler's List.
Favorite Film genre: Drama, thriller.
Favorite current television shows: Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Dexter, Rock Center, The Voice, The Good Wife, Piers Morgan Live.
Favorite past television shows: The Sopranos, Law and Order, I'll Fly Away, Seinfeld, NYPD Blue (with Jimmy Smits), The Bob Newhart Show, The Carol Burnett Show.
Favorite current actors and actresses: Bryan Cranston, George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jessica Chastain, Tom Cruise, Ryan Gosling, Clint Eastwood, Dustin Hoffman, Jane Fonda.
Favorite past actors and actresses: Lee Remick, Jack Lemmon, Henry Fonda, Paul Newman, Audrey Hepburn, Sydney Pollock (as a director and an actor).
Favorite music: Pop, Classical, Jazz.
Favorite musicians: Maroon 5, Adele, Bon Jovi, Rob Thomas, Rolling Stones.
Favorite books: All John Grisham books, Indecent Exposure, Fonda, My Life (Henry Fonda Biography), The Da Vince Code, The Girl Who Played With Fire, To Kill a Mockingbird.
Favorite authors: John Grisham, Dan Brown, David McClintock, Steig Larsson.
Famous People that you admire (currently living): President Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton, Brian Williams, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Steven Spielberg.
Famous historical figures that you admire: Abraham Lincoln, John Kennedy, Oskar Schindler.
Hobbies: Who has time for hobbies?
Religion: Catholic.
Proudest Accomplishments in your life: My two children.
Favorite acting performances from your career: Mary in 'Little House on the Prairie' episodes: "I'll Be Waving As You Drive Away, Parts I & II", "Happy Birthday To Me", "The Equalizer", 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' episode: "Murder In Mind."
Goals that you want to accomplish in the future: Volunteer and make a difference; possibly act again.
Pet Peeves: Bragging, rudeness.
Favorite types of food: Sushi, great pasta, grilled vegetables, cookies.
Favorite drinks: Anything dark and diet! Cappuccino.
Favorite dishes that you cook: Chicken, turkey, tacos, pasta sauce.
Favorite dessert: Cookies.
Dog or cat person: Dog definitely!
Flowers: Roses, sunflowers.
Favorite countries or cities to travel to: Venice, Copenhagen, Prague, Paris, London, Berlin, Stockholm, New York, San Francisco.
Favorite color: Blue.
Physical activities or exercise: Working out, tennis.
Favorite family activities: Going to the movies.
Qualities that you find attractive in a person: Sense of humor, intelligence.
Qualities that you find unattractive in a person: Rudeness, condescension.
How do you prepare for an acting role? Obviously each role is different - a lot of reading and re-reading the script, conversations with the director.
What is your method of evoking emotion for a role? If it ain't on the page, it ain't on the stage. Seriously, if I don't believe it, the audience won't either.
Crushes that you had as a child or teenager: David Cassidy, Davy Jones, Shaun Cassidy.
Were you named after anyone? No.
Qualities that you admired about your parents: My Dad never had a bad word to say about anyone.
Do you have any of the bells that you collected as a teenager? Yes - most of them.
How do you manage stress? Working out.
Favorite holiday: Thanksgiving and Christmas equally.
Guilty pleasures: Cookies, Breaking Bad, Mad Men.
Nationality: Irish, Swedish, English and German.
Fears: I'm too afraid to answer that question.
What are the differences between your public persona and your personality in your private life? Not much; I probably have a better sense of humor.
Former co-stars that you keep in touch with: Doug McKeon, Dean Butler, Simon Williams, Linda Hayden.
What is the strangest script that you have received? A script that had me playing myself - it was a feature and it was absolutely dreadful.
As a young girl, how did you feel about receiving marriage proposals in fan letters? (For the record, I did not send any marriage proposals in the two letters that I wrote to you. I sent a gift with each letter including a bell with something inscribed on it. I don’t remember what it said.) I was embarrassed, happily so.
How do you feel about fans that have trouble distinguishing between fiction and reality? (For example, on my website, I can see the Google search terms and many of the searches are for “Melissa Sue Anderson blind”. Some fans believed that Michael Landon conveniently wrote your blindness into the Little House scripts) When I was younger, I really didn't like when somebody called me "Mary", because I considered myself an actress and wanted to play many different roles. But I tried to see the positive side in that it meant they really believed my performances.
After years of very little publicity, your month long book tour of signings, radio, and TV interviews must have been hard. How was your experience on your 2010 book tour? Professionally, it was good - personally, it was quite hard - a lot of packing and unpacking and extremely lonely.
How was your experience meeting fans and seeing Dean Butler again at the Laura Ingalls Wilder days in 2010? Fun and it was great getting to know Dean again.
Happy Birthday to Me is included in many top 25 lists as one of the best Slasher/Horror films of the 1980’s and you have fans of the movie who have never seen Little House on the Prairie. Did you think that the film would be that influential when you decided to act in the movie? No, but could you please tell Quentin Tarantino that?
