In a collaborative environment directors hire actors because they want their input, not just their bodies.

In their 30s women really start to live... they're not children anymore, and they're not just mothers.

My idols are all older.

All I really want to do is entertain people out there sitting in the dark and for them to believe it.

That's where I got my start and where I'll continue to work, but I can't tell you the number of films between Drugstore Cowboy and Curly Sue that I auditioned for and wanted that didn't choose me.

I can't wait til I get the chance to be a character and how my face looks isn't the first consideration.

You learn your text and have it in the back of your head, without a thought as to how you're going to say it.

The worst thing would be for them to find out who I really am, because that's where I hide.

I think right now in the world we're feeling like there's no solid ground beneath our feet, you know?

You know, I change my hair color a lot, I do all sorts of different things.

In a collaborative environment directors hire actors because they want their input, not just their bodies.

Well, I'm a consumer as well. I go to the movies with my popcorn and believe everything I see.

The least consideration of any film I've ever worked on is who is right for it.

You look at Gone With the Wind, how right Vivian Leigh was for that. Don't know if that would happen today.

Yeah, I do feel badly sometimes, not for whose coming up and getting roles I'm not right for anymore but the people I compete with, who range from Uma Thurman on up.

But actors at a certain point take the best of what's available to them.

I just think we're living in a time of massive, amazing change, like the Industrial Revolution on acid.

I've been overwhelmed; I was a single mother for a time.

I don't care what people's myths are about me.

It's important for me to see as many colors in the character as possible.

I mean, I always feel incredibly lucky to get a job.

Cause I won't repeat myself, the way I dress and look.

If it's independent, it's because I love it... 'cause they usually end up costing me money to do.

I like to show as much of a woman as I can. I like to fill things out.

It's part of the fun of it to work with strong personalities.

The fact that I got Drugstore Cowboy at all was a fluke.

I make a good living and I've never looked at myself as being an artiste.

My whole career is based on taking a left turn after each film and doing the opposite of what I've just done.

And sometimes I do films so my daughter can see me work.

Most movie stars don't change their look at all.

I do come shackled with whatever people think I am.

Well, for someone who looks like me you wonder where Alfred Hitchcock is.

Actors love mental disorders, dialects, and corsets. Give them one of the three and they're happy.

What's fascinating is that when you write a script, it's almost a stream of consciousness. You have an idea that it means something, but you're not always sure what. Then when you get on the set, the actors teach you.

Young actors often don't think of the consequences of doing nudity or sex scenes. They want the role so badly that they agree to be exploited, and then end up embarrassing family, friends, and even strangers.

I've seen many actors go awry by making the wrong choices early on.

Actors are able to trick themselves into treating anything as if it's fantastic. It's a kind of madness really.

David Cronenberg knows what we actors do as artists.

I like doing them and they're ridiculous and the actors can improvise a lot, and they don't have to be really realistic characters that hit a very specific tone as in a feature film. They're really fun, I want to make more of them definitely.

I'm not in the business of becoming famous. And that's the advice I give to younger aspiring actors. Work onstage and do the little roles. In the end it's not important to be seen. It's important to do. There's a lot of disappointment in this business, but my family keeps me grounded.

Actors get pigeonholed very quickly, particularly movie actors. In the theater, one is more used to casting people against type and trusting that their talent and skill will get them through.

Comedians are not usually actors, but imitations of actors.

I was very pleased you know, and I was afraid that I might stick out, but I didn't. My happiest thing about that picture is that I proved that American actors can speak as well and also fit in with an ensemble like that.

I've worked with a lot of really fine actors, both on stage and on screen. The level of their game lifts me up and brings the level of my game up to theirs. Always. It's like a constant upgrade.

I feel like I'm the most well-adjusted character on the show, even though I'm sure the other actors would tell you the same thing about their characters.

There's a constant flow of child actors. It's kind of funny to watch the new crew come through. I think, You poor little things. You're going to have to struggle for a long time.

I'll miss the relationships I have built with these actors. I'll miss the devotion we have to this work. Over this length of time, the tendency is to think it will never end.

After the war, there was no industry. We lost the war. We had our whole city destroyed. No money. No studio. No film. No camera. No equipment. We would shoot in the street. We had no actors. Nothing. But we wanted to do movies. And we did the best movies in the world.

An actors' tribute to me is in his work.