All those days of waiting on tables until I could get a role on Broadway, all that time going to school taking lessons, and all those years of being a nobody following a dream-and now here it is.

I'm always a little starstruck anyway. So to work with a movie star, which is Brad, I was excited about that; to work with a movie legend, which is Tony, I wouldn't have passed that up. Just to get to watch him and watch how he works.

I'm just a pack mule. I've played leads and I've played character roles. Any actress in Hollywood will tell you as your age climbs, the leads thin.

All those days of waiting on tables until I could get a role on Broadway, all that time going to school taking lessons, and all those years of being a nobody following a dream-and now here it is.

In theater, you have a rehearsal period and you know just who to be.

In the theater, it's about taking time in a musical segment, a pause in a musical way and then moving on.

I was always the child who wore her emotions on her sleeve.

I think in terms of family, in terms of relationships, in terms of work, competition to be the favorite, to be the noticed, to be the one - I don't know if it exists for all personalities, but I know for sure it did with me.

I'm not a big fan of mediocre.

I love it when ugliness is beautiful. I love character flaws.

You're over there in the corner either thinking about the dead dog or whatever, you're bringing up your personal life and you need the space, and then somebody throws you a joke. Especially if it's an emotional scene, you don't want the joke.

Having a dad in the service was helpful. I was forever meeting new kids, going to new schools, moving to new neighborhoods. I was encouraged when I attended the American School in Germany.

A New York casting director, who shall remain nameless, once said to me, 'Marcia, you have what I call the flaring-nostril look, and until you get something done about it, you will never, ever work.'

Anybody who is really walking with the Lord is embracing the foibles and the beauties and the differences of humanity, regardless of race, color, creed, economic stature and sexual proclivity, whatever. You embrace the beauty of humanity and not be exacting and belittling about the differences.

As a mother, I love the Leapster handheld because it really delivers on educating children while they play. My daughter enjoys it because it's fun and touches on all of the activities she is interested in - videos, books and art.

Back in the days of Barbara Stanwyck and Bette Davis, beauty wasn't the be-all and end-all it is today.

Doing theater is such a specifically energetic and almost acrobatic work.

Everybody says 'Good Morning' in Harlem because it's true! And that's lovely.

Everyone thinks offers are always pouring in. Offers have never poured in. Never. I was auditioning a lot, but I didn't get the jobs.

Harlem is a very family-oriented neighborhood, and it always has been.

I always wanted to be in movies.

I do pottery.

I had a science teacher in middle school who inspired me... simply because she acknowledged me and made me feel that what I had to offer was worthy.

I have a theory that there's almost this primal viewpoint on women in the business, that once you're beyond childbearing age, you are perceived as nonthreatening, nonsexual, noncastable. Sure, I already knew it before I got into it. I just didn't know I'd end up making my living from low-budget, independent films.

I love being a mother; I hate being a housewife - the cooking, the laundry - because it takes away time I could be with my kids.

I love physical comedy. I adore comedy of any kind.

I loved playing Anne Bancroft, because she was so wonderfully arch.

I played Laura Bush in a Tony Kushner piece, and afterward, I think my phones got tapped.

I relate to people and roles that are about the arc of human experience, things that everyday people deal with every day.

I think families should vacation together, and cruising is a wonderful option.

I was always an exhibitionist. I liked it when everyone laughed. But I didn't do plays in high school. I was too nervous.

In Hollywood, a lot of acting feels like grandstanding.

In my kids' school, the married family is an anomaly... which I do think is sad. I do believe in marriage.

In my opinion, Zac Efron is a total hero. Him seeking help encourages other people with addictive issues to seek help. It's brave of him.

Isn't it nice not to have to compartmentalize yourself?

It's hard to balance work and family.

It's important that kids learn, but I really don't like all the testing, testing, testing.

It's very hypocritical to constantly say, 'We want to keep our kids close,' then send them home with so much homework that family time becomes nonexistent.

My schools were quite diverse - those who serve their country come from every race and religion - and so the military schools I attended were a wonderful melting pot.

My work often takes me away from my family for long periods of time, so I've really come to appreciate the time I do spend with them.

Reading is a joy for my kids, and to swing in a hammock on a lazy summer day reading a good book just goes with summer.

So far, the thing I seem to have been rewarded for in film is leaving myself behind and transforming myself into other people.

Sometimes I ride my bike to see the kids after a matinee and then ride back to do the show. That's the hard part, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

The people who stood out in the Sandy Hook incident, the heroes, were the normal, ordinary people who went to save those children.

There are certainly a billion, ker-trillion girls out there more attractive than I am.

They tell us in magazines and in ads, 'Oh, you should look like this, you should wear this, you should look like this movie star, or you're nothing.' And so we're all totally unsatisfied.

We can be incredibly disconnected in this day and age with computers and cell phones.

Whether you win or not, the night the Oscars are over, the curtain goes down and you go back to the grind. Period.

With any tween, you have issues, from what they are going to wear to school, to how do you get them to speak politely, to how regularly they lose their contact lenses.