I know it sounds earnest, but I do really feel in my bones that acting is just a small part of the equation when you are making a movie. The director really is in charge. Actors are as important or unimportant as the rest of the people around them.
I think it’s really special to be a part of something that people are still watching or thinking about or interested in, or remember fondly many years later. I don’t think it’s annoying at all.
I really like Shakespeare a lot. The characters that he writes for females, I think, are really great and a lot more compelling than what modern writers write, which is weird because they didn’t have actresses then.
I think women get caught up too much in having a plan – ‘I’m going to get married at this age I’m going to have a kid at this age’ – and then they just try to find a guy who will fit into that picture. I don’t want my life to be based on that.
I like a director who is very observant and is watching what I’m doing and noticing what I’m doing, but is giving me time to figure it out. They don’t jump right in and give you a note before you’ve had time to really search on your own with how to do a scene.
I did a different production with a different director and Bill Pullman. Oleanna – the one you saw – we were doing right after Bourne Identity or right after it came out.
We can become very short-sighted in terms of objectives. The first thing to go during times of economic crisis and budget cuts is funding for things that are essential and not-quantifiable, like the arts. Save Big Bird
