In my case, I was born to parents who were very young, and I don't think they were entirely ready to have a child. My dad was going to college and working two or three jobs at the same time, and my mum was working and going to school.

I know that there is a God - the God within me that's always present and will protect me. I'm not afraid to climb any mountain, because I know that I'm protected. Even if I fall and die, I'm still protected. My faith is on that level.

I'm very aware that after you've played Cleopatra, there's not a lot that can top that in this sphere, so it means that I want to almost change the sphere I work in rather completely because I will always be comparing it to Cleopatra.

The world isn't getting any easier. With all these new inventions I believe that people are hurried more and pushed more... The hurried way is not the right way; you need time for everything - time to work, time to play, time to rest.

When you spend many hours a week working with the same people - I mean television operates on really amazing hours and the gift of that is the trust that you feel and the intimacy that you feel with the people who you're working with.

I'm almost 60. I've been doing this for a while. In order to do this for that long, you have to make decisions based on lots and lots of different criteria, you know. I mean, the criteria has to shift, especially if you're an actress.

Personally, I have nothing to fall back on, and that creates a weird ambition that you have to be good at acting because you can't be good at anything else. I wish I had gone for my degree - that acting wasn't this be-all-and-end-all.

When I was growing up, my mother only put her foot down once: She said, "You are going to college." And that was a lifesaving moment. But she never talked to me about my clothes or hair. So I learned how to parent my kids through her.

When I was growing up, my mother only put her foot down once: She said, 'You are going to college.' And that was a lifesaving moment. But she never talked to me about my clothes or hair. So I learned how to parent my kids through her.

My position on the POW issue has been widely misquoted and taken out of context. What I originally said and have continued to say is that the POW's are lying if they assert it was North Vietnamese policy to torture American Prisoners.

In my heart of hearts, I love theatre. It's the joy and terror of putting a play on, the creativity of it. It is infinitely harder than film and television and more tiring. Your performance is heightened in the way it isn't with film.

I've always just done things that come naturally, and that's always been surrounding myself with artists that I respect and that are way better at what they do than at what I do. I've worked my ass off to earn the right to get a shot.

I call it the 'doll house,' ... It's absolutely gorgeous, especially at this time of year. It's a crisp sky and, you know, if we wake up on a clear morning, and then I take little Norm out for a walk, have a little coffee on the deck.

The British boys really, really go nuts... to them, an older woman is sexy, and it's an incredible fantasy... I think the American fantasy is still about men wanting control. Maybe American men don't feel as in control of their lives.

No one purposefully paints a bad painting. It's someone who's trying to do a good painting, but it's terrible. I have one with a matador, and the bull is going through the blanket. You can tell the painter didn't know how to paint it.

Often if you are very, very close with someone, sometimes it does not read. In effect, your dynamic onstage is defused. You share too much onstage. There's sort of a blurring of behavior that doesn't read to the audience as chemistry.

I think there's a million talented people out there, it's just a matter of luck a lot of the time. And good training, which we were lucky to have. And I think that's what people are curious about - other people, and what they're like.

Every week it's another opportunity to really make that work and figure out how to make it work better. And I love that it's like theater, too, and the audience, and it's so short. It's only 20 minutes. It's like a haiku or something.

I told everyone that actings for losers and I needed to get an education. But something kept telling me to give it one last chance. In the end, I lasted a month on the M.B.A. and then decided to quit, come back to L.A., and try again.

I was always lonesome. The only time I felt accepted or wanted was when I was on stage performing. I guess the stage was my only friend: the only place where I could feel comfortable. It was the only place where I felt equal and safe.

I remember they did all the makeup tests on me for Darla... Sorry, for "the vampire." I was the test monkey for the vampire look, so I went through numerous variations of the prosthetics and camera tests before I actually got the job.

It's terrifying. Women make their first film, their second film, and then it's like a nightmare, right, to make the third or fourth? I mean, it's almost like men can have three films in a row that don't do that well and keep on going.

If I had a child actor, I would wish for it to be in an Adam Sandler movie, because he just comes in and makes them so comfortable and is so brilliant with them and they all go home and they that they've got this special relationship.

I don't really do simple. I'm not really interested in simple at the end of the day, because nothing's ever simple, and nothing's ever perfect. People certainly aren't - I would hope, anyway, because that would be boring, wouldn't it?

After winning the Oscar, I was committed to do 'Fried Green Tomatoes,' but I didn't know what the next thing would be after that. It was a scary time. But the advantage of TV is the regular work. All you need is a hit series, I guess.

I'm definitely a messy person... I know where everything is but I just can't organize. I don't make lists and find scripts on the laundry machine, and under my bed, or in the bathroom, kitchen. It's bad, I really need to take control.

There's no real manual on being a parent. There's no real manual on being a wife. I keep reminding myself, My mother did all this, only she never got to leave the house. OK, I can do this. We're all learning on our own learning curve.

I just really love producing. I love being able to be part of a solution. I love being able to create opportunities for other people to do what they do, to be part of the collaborative process that is filmmaking and television making.

The funny thing is, people only know me for having straight hair for work, but I live in Atlanta where it's hot and humid in the summertime. So when I'm home, I wear my hair natural. My hair is naturally curly; I don't have a relaxer.

Like, a lot of people I know are wanting to get back to the Earth in some way and not raise their kids in this world of Apps and Internet all the time. I grew up on a river in New Jersey and I was in fantasy land. I could do anything.

I like making pies. I have a bunch of fruit trees in my backyard. My loquat tree sprouted, and I like making loquat pie. They're really hard to peel and everything, and it took me forever, but they make the best pies. They're amazing.

You easily close yourself off to certain things because you want to seem like you know it all, or you're not weak - emotion is often confused as weakness - so when emotions are undeniably physically affecting you, I think it's a gift.

It's interesting how you can blur the line between acting and living and learn from your performances. I'm just trying to keep learning as much as I can and not get caught up in all the distractions that can play havoc with your mind.

The thing about Netflix is that you get more minutes in your episode because there are no commercial breaks. You have time to let things breathe and be quiet. You get to see an entire scene play out instead of just jumping halfway in.

I'm super and very openly obsessed with voice-over. 'In a World...' was my love letter to the industry of voice-over. And in a way, I sometimes think of it as a 93-minute audition to the voice-over industry to say, 'Hey. Consider me!'

When you write and direct your own film, you basically know exactly what you want. Or you hope to. For the studio, it actually can make life a little easier, because if you have a bunch of questions, they only need to call one person.

I think the greatest privilege you have as an artist is time to nurture what you want to make; that's super luxurious. For you to rush into something, that doesn't feel fun to me. I'm living life in order to be able to write about it.

I think I was raised by a very humble mother, who, if anything, is probably over skeptical. She has that sense of everything being a bonus: like, you have your lot, and anything else is on top. She's quietly proud, and quietly humble.

I think that people are most comfortable when they can put you in a box - and that's very easy to do that when someone can put you in more serious roles. I'm not blaming them for that - it's just up to me to show people what I can do.

I started doing martial arts when I was about 7, and I got my second degree black belt when I was 19. So I have my second degree black belt, but I've never used it, and I had to stop when I got 'Instant Star' because I couldn't train.

Really, I'll go anywhere at any time to continue working in theater - it's a passion that I'm thankful I still have. It keeps me creative and on my toes and meeting great people. I can't imagine a better way of working than on a play.

I honestly don't know where the high voice thing came from in the first place. Why do people have high voices? Emotional problems? What is that? It could easily be that. And now I'm getting more normal, and my voice is getting deeper.

The truth is that's always when it's the most fun, when you're able to just be wherever you are, be whatever scene it is you're doing, whatever the incredible actors you're with. Being busy is something that I just love and thrive on.

I literally think that if you're in this business, it has to be the only thing you can and want to do, because it's so hard. You have to be fully committed - and partially insane - to wake up every morning and be like, 'I'm an actor.'

The CW is a very fashion-oriented network and they like their stars to look a certain way. I like that, but at the same time, I need Nikita to be toned down a bit. You can't draw too much attention to Nikita because she's an assassin.

I met a woman who went through a very difficult personal crisis, and she was really bed-ridden for a long time, and 'Friends' got her through. I met a woman who had a brain injury while living in Europe, and 'Friends' got her through.

I love the Coen brothers. They're so brilliant, and they always surprise you in one way or another. 'A Serious Man' was awesome. I like stuff like that, that kind of throws you for a loop. It takes you on a journey that is unexpected.

All I can say is I've been reading the lips of bleeped-out words, angry baseball players, and stoned-out rock stars on awards shows for years and it's been hilarious. Everyone is always asking me what the bleeped-out parts are saying.

In the interest of full disclosure, let me state that I hate Hamas. They embody everything that I, as a human being, am fighting against: oppression, religious rule, and patriarchy. They empower Israel while dividing the Palestinians.

I'm the biggest nerd - I love comic books and stuff like that! I don't have any friends who are actresses. I only had one girlfriend when I was growing up. Most of my friends were boys. I was such a tomboy. I enjoyed doing guy things.

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