For more than half her life, Michelle Pfeiffer "struggled with my own image as a sexual person."
Speaking to The Sun, the 53-year-old "Dark Shadows" actress says that it wasn't until she shot "The Fabulous Baker Boys" in 1989 -- "by which time I was 31" -- that she felt confident in her own skin.
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"Even two years before that, I would not have been able to play the part of the sexually appealing Susie Diamond. She was dynamic and unapologetic and I was able to put on those clothes and play the part," Pfeiffer explains. "I think, because of the way I looked, I had stayed away from buying anything sexy or overtly sexual."
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"It was a turning point for me, because I could understand why men would find her sexy," Pfeiffer says. "I wish I'd been more like her. Before that, I would walk around looking like a bag lady!"
Pfeiffer also reveals that the "biggest turning point in my life" was becoming a mother to Claudia Rose, 18, and John Henry, 17, with TV producer husband David E. Kelley, 55. "If you had told me when I was 18 that I could survive on three hours' sleep a night, I'd have never believed it," Pfeiffer admits. "You just cope."
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The actress adds that she doesn't want her children to follow in her famous footsteps. "I would say: 'Be a doctor or something else.' The value of a good education has never left me ... When I became a mother, I realized I had not taken enough advantage of my education and came to appreciate how important it really is."
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