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When I'm not working, my time is really about my children.
I was a fighter and very determined. There was no way I was going to back out without winning.
I joke with a girlfriend of mine who's also in the business that we'll be the only two actresses in Hollywood who haven't had face-lifts, and that we'll be carrying our faces around in wheelbarrows!
I used to take my work home with me before I had children. I don't do that now; I do my work and never bring the character home.
As long as I can find complex parts, whether on stage, film, or TV, I'll keep doing that. It's really what I am.
There's nothing wrong with playing an earnest mom once. But it gets really boring.
There are only a few actresses over 40 who are stil considered sexual in Hollywood's eyes - Susan Sarandon is one of them - but there aren't many parts written for women over 40 that deal with sexuality.
Sure I faced the troubles and challenges that most actors and actresses face until they get noticed, but I was always confident of myself and my capabilities.
What was exciting was to really go beneath the surface and see what makes a person insulting, mean and abusive... especially to ones own child.
The Book of Ruth is based on the Jan Hamilton's novel. While reading the novel, what excited me about Maylene was that she was a classic sort of villain.
I like to take up something that is challenging. I like to stretch myself.
The crossover wasn't happening. TV actors were TV actors, and film and stage actors were a whole different thing. And now there's just a lot of crossover.
Its nice to be recognized and receive accolades for the work that you have done.
I'm still so challenged by this mothering thing. It is so incredibly wild and interesting, and fulfilling... everything.
I was going to be a stage actress. So I went to New York and studied and waitressed and waitressed and pounded the pavement. I was always a little off. It wasn't like people were begging me to he a sex symbol.
And that's why I chose on purpose not to have a death scene. We've seen them in a million movies and it's too much like cranking the tears out. I didn't want that scene.
After doing so many different roles, if you don't stretch yourself, there's no excitement left.
My heart's in really great shape thanks to spinning classes.
I would take up any small job on the sets, just so that I could hang around with the hope of getting noticed.
Also, I thought the writing, on Chicago Hope in particular, was far superior to a lot of the feature-film scripts that I had been getting anyway.
When I was first starting out, if you were acting on television, it was a real stigma.
I also do push-ups when I can, but I normally don't work out my upper body except when I'm lifting my kids, which usually is enough!
I enjoyed Ghost World, though, but didn't really sit there comparing it to my films; I just enjoyed it for what it was.
Competition is very good... as long as its healthy. It's what makes one strive to be better.
Theatre is more exciting in the sense that you can actually see the audience in the eye. You know there are no takes and retakes. You have one chance to do your job... and you better do it well!
I don't want to fight aging; i want to take good care of myself, but plastic surgery and all that? I'm not interested.
You know what's weird is that we all parent the way we were parented. Sometimes I find myself saying just the things I hated to hear my mother say.
I most often land up taking up the roles that I most detest.
I was a gypsy my whole life, until I did this series. For the first time I can stay home. The studio's only 20 minutes from my house.
A friend of mine described it this way: When they were born it was like a meteor landed in our house and blew everything apart. We had to just put all the pieces back.
I had the passion to become one, since I was a young girl and was always active in theatre and other forms of stage work.
I think all industries are sexist in nature and I don't think the film industry is any different.
Both of the main characters in My First Mister remind me of Sylvie. I'm very attracted to people who are not in the mainstream, people who are on the edges, lonely people I guess.
It was not really a career choice that I had to make. It was something I knew right from the beginning. I had to be an actress... period.
Movie makers are now finding roles that are more apt to older actresses. They see the talent and they want to put it to best use.
I demanded two weeks of rehearsal because to me as an actor, that's the most important time.
I'm more proud of quitting smoking than of anything else I've done in my life, including winning an Oscar.
I loved the stage and then grew to love the camera.
I wanted to be an actress. In college I was a serious feminist and very political. I was determined to get one thing out of my career and that was respect. I didn't want money. I didn't care about fame.
I am an actress and acting is my passion... period!
I try to eat low-fat, but once a week I'll have a major dessert or an oily pasta. Mostly I eat fresh fruits and vegetables, chicken and fish.
I had started smoking when I was 14 and after 20 years was up to 2 1/2 packs a day. I stay disciplined about eating right and working out now because once you get rid of something that self-destructive, you don't want unhealthy behavior anywhere in your life.
I had directed a short film, but basically I'm a student in how to use the camera to tell the story, so I really needed that rehearsal.
Its only when you are a great actor and are recognised for your good work that you become famous. Unless you are in the news for the wrong reasons!
Television really does offer still great parts for women, cable in particular.
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