ASHLAND, Ky. (WSAZ) – A lot of people in our region follow the work of actress Ashley Judd, who is also an activist busy doing work throughout the world.

But she never forgets eastern Kentucky. NewsChannel 3’s Michael Wooten recently sat down with Judd to talk about her far-reaching projects.

"I come back every year and take a sentimental journey," she said.

It’s a journey through the eastern Kentucky coalfields where Judd has deep family roots. Her latest trip to Ashland was to support the Paramount Arts Center's new movie screen.

"I believe that arts are really vital to any community, and to have the opportunity to support not only a performing arts center, which I think is unfortunately these days a little bit rare for smaller towns like Ashland, that in and of itself is special,” she said. “But now that they have the added capacity to show films, I thought that was special, and it had been about a year since I was here, and it seemed like a perfect excuse."

Perhaps an excuse to get away from her hectic schedule – Judd is developing and producing three scripts, including one set in eastern Kentucky.

"I've always known that at a certain stage I would start to produce my own material, and that moment finally happened," she said.

Ashley is still in front of the camera as well. She co-stars with Harrison Ford, Sean Penn and Ray Liotta in "Crossing Over," which is due out in December. She also has wrapped up an independent film called “Helen.” Judd stars as a successful woman with a deep secret: battling depression. The film is due out next year.

But Judd’s true passion is her work overseas with a group called Population Services International.

"So far, I've had the privilege and the honor of traveling to 12 countries where we have programs, so I've been to a lot of places,” she said. “I can rattle them off, but it's a little show-offy, so I won't. And that has been very transformative for me. It's been very special and difficult, but absolutely worthwhile."

Judd recently visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rawanda. She has plans to visit Vietnam, Laos and Russia during the next 6 months. Her main goal is to help women with modern contraception, while also fighting for women's rights in war-torn parts of the world.

"It is not pretty, but it is very real, and I'm just really grateful that I've been able to find some very ethical and empowered organizations with whom to collaborate so that I can do my little part in making the world a better place," she said.

Judd will travel to Canada next month to start filming her latest film, a comedy called "Tooth Fairy."