Angie Harmon on Faith and Family Values

Her intense new job is in L.A., but her family's in North Carolina. Here, how Angie Harmon made the hard choices that ensure her marriage is rock solid, her kids are grounded, and her values are firmly in place.

On leaving L.A.:

"I'm happy that we moved. One day, my kids are going to say, 'Remember when we sat in the yard [in North Carolina] and fed the geese?' I'm so proud that I can give them these memories. And I'm more grounded and centered in North Carolina because it's a slower way of life. We go bike riding or go to the ice cream parlor."

Related: Read the full interview with Angie Harmon

On insecurities:
"My biggest insecurity is that my personality is too much, and as I get older, it's just getting bigger," she acknowledges. "I was scared that the women in North Carolina might not like me. I get so excited about things - maybe too excited. I definitely come on strong. So I tried to rein myself in."

On being a working mother:
"When I feel like I'm not doing what I am supposed to as a mother, I will torture myself," she says. "I don't know how to deal with it. I find some consolation in the fact that all mommies feel it. If there was a way to cure mommy guilt, I would bottle it and be a bazillionaire."

Related: Gwyneth Paltrow Opens Up About Motherhood and Postpartum Depression

On love and trust:
"I'm usually very much an 'I can do it myself' kind of person. I always had a part of my heart that was guarded. It's like, I will give you 95% of my heart, and I'll keep this 5% for me just in case something goes wrong," she says with surprising candor. "But you can't go through life like that. You have to be 100% invested in the relationship."

On teaching her children values:
"They need to know that everybody needs to be respected. There is no one on this planet who's better than they are, and they aren't better than anybody else. Treat others as you would have them treat you. And you're not pretty on the outside unless you're pretty on the inside."

Related: Celebrity Moms Get Real

On her husband:
"He says, 'Baby, you wouldn't be who you are if you weren't an actress,'" Harmon explains. "He gives me the freedom to do my job, which is pretty fantastic."

On prayer:
"Me? I pray everywhere - in the shower, on a plane, in traffic, you name it. When I feel like I have had enough, I will literally take a knee, bow my head, and beg God for help and strength. I know not to beg Him for patience, because then He gives me situations in which I have to grow more patient; I learned that lesson! And if I am having a wonderful day, I will stop to thank Him. It's a relationship."

Photo by Matthew Rolston

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