Heather Graham doesn't feel she has missed out by not having kids.
The 53-year-old actress is happy with the way her life has turned out, even though she believes it would have been "cool" if she had went on to have a family.
She told PEOPLE: "I think we all have different paths. You just have to embrace the one that you're on. If, somehow, I had had kids, I'm sure that would've been cool. But at the moment, not having kids, I do feel free. And I get a lot of sleep. That is pretty great.
"I do feel like as a woman, culturally, you're not allowed to say, 'I didn't want to have kids. Because it's like, what's wrong with you?' I think as a man it's like, oh yeah, cool, you didn't want to have kids. Now, women are getting more free to just make their own choices.
"If you're meant to have kids, you have kids... the universe gives you someone or something to nurture."
Heather went on to say that she treats her acting projects like kids and not being a mom has given her more time to devote to her career.
She said: "I don't feel that I'm missing anything. I do sometimes feel like my projects are little kids; I have started to get more involved in producing and writing and directing.
"It's hard, but it's super fulfilling. It's really exciting to want to tell a story that you really care about."
However, she does have one regret; turning down a role in a hugely successful movie.
She said: "Sometimes I do wake up in the morning thinking about it, going, why didn't you do that movie? I am embarrassed to even say [the name of] it because it's so dumb that I didn't do it. But I believe that you're on your path and I'm grateful. I'm so happy that I got to be an actress."
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