About my show The Summer I Turned Pretty: When I was 12, I was at camp in this new bathing suit, and all the boys were suddenly looking at me. I was a real tomboy, and I thought, Oh my God, what’s that? I just turned totally red and flew my body into the pool. But I can remember so vividly feeling very autonomous, very much like my body was mine.

My husband [Kevin Bacon] was, like, why aren’t you directing? I’m such a huge film buff, and as an actor for so long, I’ve gotten to see it done well and not well. And I want to do it well. But Kevin said it enough, and I finally agreed. Directing is my main focus, and I love it—you’re a much bigger part of the storytelling, involved in every single facet.

The key for Kevin and me has been to find something interesting outside of our comfort zone and bring it back into the relationship—a book or a new animal, a way of seeing the world. Photographing our farm has definitely helped. The goats and alpacas, horses, pigs—they’re all just endlessly fun and interesting to watch.

I’m a really big fan of seeing people fall in love on-screen. It can even be cartoon characters or animals. But seeing love blossom? I’m totally in. My favorite, though, is The Philadelphia Story—like, wow, they’re bickering, but they really like each other. That’s just fun and cool.

One of the things I post on Instagram is Sunday Saddies, which is about that creeping feeling of despair and desolation that sometimes happens on a Sunday and how to get out of it. The headline for me is “Never Contemplate Your Life on a Sunday.” [Laughs.]

My dream rom-com costar crush would be Oliver Platt. I’ve always thought that, even before his Bear resurrection. He’s so tall, so witty, and I just think we could have a sexy mind thing as well as a physical thing. —As told to Gayle Jo Carter