By the time I was in high school, Roe v. Wade had passed, so that was also happening; girls were getting pregnant and getting abortions - and that happened in my school too.

I don't see myself as competing with other actresses. I mean, I went through a time when I was in New York, and I was going to lots of auditions and trying to get parts, but even then, you're not really competing with the other actresses. There is a competition going on, but it's not like something you can win in that way.

My parents were very supportive. They went to every show. And they never told me not to do what I was doing.

I remember hearing someone say that good acting is more about taking off a mask than putting one on, and in movie acting, certainly that's true. With the camera so close, you can see right down into your soul, hopefully. So being able to do that in a way is terrifying, and in another way, truly liberating. And I like that about it.

I knew I wanted children in my life. The acting was always in relation to it. Life at home is chaos. They're wonderful. They're such interesting human beings. I just love it. I'm lucky.

We all perform our lives in a way. And the actor is a perfect metaphor to get at that theme of 'how do we find our authentic selves?' And that we all - whether we're actors or not - perform ourselves. As a way of searching. As a way of fumbling around and trying to say, is this my voice? Is this who I am?

By the time I was in high school, Roe v. Wade had passed, so that was also happening; girls were getting pregnant and getting abortions - and that happened in my school too.

Acting is not about being famous, it's about exploring the human soul.

Oh, honey, I'm from Oklahoma! This is who I am - middle-class all the way!

Yes, I know I've played these women, but I'm not really conniving at all.

And if there's anything movies can do in a way that I just love, and I love as an audience is, "Show me something I don't know about. Show me something I haven't seen."

The tension I feel is the moment they say, 'Action!' Movies are like lightning in a bottle, and you always want to find when you possibly can catch a surprising moment.

We still want to idealize moms, and sometimes we want to idealize actresses who are moms, too. I know that's something I've experienced, but we're all just doing the best we can and we're all trying to raise our kids and talk to them about everything that needs to be discussed.

Right now, I love the fact that I have so many opportunities, but I know this privileged position cannot last. That doesn't mean that I'll stop working. I picture myself as an old actress doing cameos in films with people saying: "Isn't that that Bening woman?"

I think we as celebrities have a lot more control.

I am really looking forward as I get older and older, to being less and less nice.

I didn't do a movie until I was almost 30. I'm grateful for that because it gave me a chance to be an adult in the world and do work in the regional theater that very few people cared about. I loved it and I wanted to do that stuff.

I have perfected the art of putting my feet on my husband's lap during awards ceremonies so he can rub them.

I didn't picture myself as a movie actress. I began to think about it around college. I remember thinking, "Well somebody has to be in them," so maybe I could do that eventually. It's all been a surprise.

And if there's anything movies can do in a way that I just love, and I love as an audience is, 'Show me something I don't know about. Show me something I haven't seen.'

Anybody who has children and children who are well feels a sense of responsibility towards parents and kids and families that are struggling and that aren't well.

Anyone who is drawn in broad strokes either negatively or positively is generally not very interesting to play.

Critics have a responsibility to put things in a cultural and sociological or political context. That is important.

Every person's opinion, in a way, does matter.

Everybody has a public life, and they have their own private life. Everybody has their secrets. Everybody has their own private, you know, agonies as well as joys. And that's what great drama, whether it's the movies or the theater, that's what it shows.

Find the story you want to tell. If you don't want to write it, find somebody to write it.

Five billion people have played Hamlet. 'To be or not to be.' And how do you do that and find your way into your own journey, your own way of telling it?

Getting all dressed up and putting on fancy clothes - all of that's a great thing, but oddly, it doesn't really have a lot to do with acting most of the time.

Glamour is really fun.

Having a life outside of movies is like pure oxygen. It makes the work more precious and informed.

I act, but I am a mother first and wife second.

I am in awe of Ruth Draper.

I didn't picture myself as a movie actress. I began to think about it around college. I remember thinking, 'Well somebody has to be in them,' so maybe I could do that eventually. It's all been a surprise.

I do have to take care of myself, not only because I'm in the movies, just for mental health reasons. I exercise for me. You know, maybe it would be nice to not have to do that in order to feel good, but I do. I feel like I have to, to feel good. To clear my head and all of that, so.

I don't really have a choice. I'm getting older.

I don't see myself as having to compete with younger actresses; I don't feel that.

I feel really lucky that I'm able to pursue the work that I love. I want my children to see that. I want them to have that for themselves, something that they love, that they do, that they pursue in their lives as a way of growing and learning.

I feel that certain things are best kept inside a family and not discussed with anyone else.

I feel very lucky I don't have to be a critic.

I find the reality of our emotional lives interesting.

I had never been attracted to younger guys. I had, from my late teens, always liked men who were older than me.

I have huge chunks of time when I'm not working.

I just want to be educated.

I like that I've been through things, that when something happens, it resonates with something that already happened. It's not that things like loss are more or less painful. But they're deeper. I find that fascinating.

I like things that I feel comfortable in.

I love being busy, and I love having a lot going on; it's exciting.

I love the craft of acting, I love learning, I love everything that comes with the new project; the whole process is totally intoxicating to me.

I love the luxury of the camera. The camera does so much for you. I like the secrets a camera can tell.

I never thought my private life would be newsworthy.