The actress, who was born in Hawaii, was not allowed to play outside to avoid getting a sunburn. Her skin was very fair, and her hair was reddish.
She told the British magazine OK!, "In Australia you spend a lot of time indoors if you’re fair-skinned because you burn. So my mother would keep me indoors and I’d read books. Because of that I wasn’t able to go to the beach very often. I always felt like I wasn’t the cool girl at school, so I’d stay indoors while everyone else was going to the beach and I’d sit and read books, but it resulted in a very vivid imagination that sustained me."