I am an actress, but I’ve always tried to be a human being first.

I guess I’m a character actress. I’ve always known I wasn’t going to play the ingenue.

I’m not one of those actresses who talks a lot about the process. I just go in and do the work.

People are obsessed with actresses being hairless, fatless Barbie dolls.

Theres plenty of great independent films to do, but you cant support yourself making independent film as an actress.

I’d really love to be a versatile, chameleon-like actress, stretching myself a bit.

You’re in a scene with Laura Linney or Oliver Platt or John Hickey or Alan Alda and these amazing actors and actresses, and you’re like, ‘Oh my God, I haven’t even started; I’m nothing compared to these people!

Being an actress wasn’t a plan at all, so what’s happened to me is very strange.
Life isn’t very normal, even though I’m still very much a normal girl. I ride the subway, I ride the bus, and all of that.

I didn’t want to be an actress at all, or famous even. I certainly enjoy acting now, absolutely. Time will tell whether or not I enjoy fame.

Actors know, with me they aren’t going to be allowed to rehearse a scene for a couple of hours and then get away with doing 25 takes before we get it right. So they come with their full bag of tricks.

I’m an actress, a brand, a businesswoman. I’m all kinds of stuff.

I’m not a born actress, as such, I care about expressing feelings

People often become actresses because of something they dislike about themselves: They pretend they are someone else.

I listened to a lot of tapes of British theatre actresses and tried to learn from them. As Americans, we don’t have such a gift with language.

I’ve been fortunate in that I’ve been able to have that balance as an actress to be able to do the wild, fun action movies and also be allowed to do the dramas. Hopefully, if I’m able to keep that balance, I’d love to always try to do both.

I became an actress because my mom wanted me to become an actress. It took me until my mid-30s to realize I actually didn’t. I actually wanted to write and direct and be more involved in politics and humanitarian issues.

My sister wanted to be an actress, but she never made it. She does live in a trailer. She got halfway. She’s an actress. She just never gets called to the set.