Mike Nichols asked if I would do The Birdcage. Mike and I are dear friends but he had never offered me a feature role in a movie. My television career opened other doors for me.

Bambi has a profound effect on children because it's about losing your mother.

It's the thing that you do well that brings you to prominence. The very thing that brings you to success can also be like a curse, because then people think that's all you can do.

I got into Julliard on almost a full scholarship.

It is really hard to do comedy; it takes a lot of energy and focus. It's rather like music: It's a lot of hitting notes precisely.

Really, can anyone drink several martinis at lunch?

Lawrence of Arabia is the ultimate movie, deeply cinematic.

I always say God should have given women one extra decade at least, especially if you want a family. You're trying to pack a lot in.

I never say I have a preference for one medium as opposed to another.

Why would I lose sleep when I really need valuable sleep just to recuperate and come back and do my job?

Audrey Hepburn's face was made for the camera.

The older I get the more I try not to waste my time on negative energy.

It's a great time to be an actress at this point in my life.

I adore clothes, I adore drinking. I just don't have the time or the inclination to totally indulge in it.

I do enjoy film. The more I do it the more I learn.

Mike Nichols asked if I would do The Birdcage. Mike and I are dear friends but he had never offered me a feature role in a movie. My television career opened other doors for me.

You make a choice whether or not to turn that TV on. We didn't even have a television in the house.

I think people think Jim Carrey's just wild and crazy. He really is very disciplined. It is true of Eddie Murphy and Robin Williams as well.

I often close my eyes because I can't tolerate violence.

Ron Howard is as good a person as you could want to work with on film. He never lost his cool. He's the most easygoing, lovely man, but he's got this enormous intelligence and a wonderful humanity.

If I never do another movie, I will have had the privilege of working on one of the big Hollywood movies with top people, creating a world that can only be described as totally cinematic.

You have to hold your bloody own or you're lost.

It was considered that you were stepping down by doing television. I almost turned Cybill down because I so wanted to remain a theater actress.

I wanted to show people I can do things other than the sophisticated bitch.

The sibilant s is the most difficult sound to correct.

I wish I didn't have to live up to anything.

Jim Carrey is a consummate actor and professional. He comes on set, knows his lines and knows his moves.

I'd much rather be famous for being a fabulous bitch than being, She does that nice wife really well.

In the early '90s, New York was a pretty depressing place.

I'm a nice, happily married wife and mom and I live in Connecticut.

Usually, it gets worse and worse as they downsize your character; mine just kept getting better.

I'm sad to say that stardom is a commodity in our culture.

Acting is like a high wire act. Your margin for error is very slim.

You can only do the work to the very best of your ability.

You are always damned by things that you do well as an actor.

My mother keeps things in perspective for me. She makes me realize that the acting I do and love is no more important than what one of my brothers does-he works in a shoe repair shop. If my career ever tapers off, I'll go to college.

An unexpected benefit of my career in biochemistry has been travel.

I'm sure once my career's over, when I look back when I'm older, I can maybe appreciate it a little bit more.

In Hungary, acting is a career for which one fits himself as earnestly as one studies for a degree in medicine, law, or philosophy.

I have been driven demented in my career.

The blues is something separate from what I do. They connect at certain spots, but blues is different. I wouldn't put it in with what my career has been. That would be a whole separate wing.

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.

It could be my downfall, but I don't think it is - Hollywood is run on perception, and if you stray off the path of what you want to do with your career, it's suicide.

Those who joined us for selfish personal reasons, for a career or other motives will be the ones to leave.

Warren Beatty took an interest in my career at one point.

I knew an actor's career goes up and down and back up again. Your standing in this business can't be your whole identity; otherwise, you're doomed.

The biggest break in my career was getting into the Beatles in 1962. The second biggest break since then is getting out of them.

Sometimes you get caught up in what's going on around you. The reality is that you are just a regular person. At some point, the career will be over, the bright lights turn off. That can come back to haunt you if you're not just a regular guy.

The truth is, it's not a great career move to create a readership and then, in effect, abandon them.