At some point you realize, I have dreams. I would love to be working on wonderful roles, in wonderful films, with people I respect and admire. And that will come in its time. In the meantime, "Pay attention to your work. Get better at what you do." That's my job.

To me, being an actor is the best job in the land, next to being a mother and having a family and a husband. I just think it's the realization of, "Hey, this is the greatest situation in the world."

I was educated by nuns. None of them, of course, did anything resembling the actions of Lydia from The Handmaid's Tale, but they taught me a work ethic, that I had to toe the line, that I had to step up and do my work, and that we would stay until it was done, and that came from a devotion to making you the best person you can be. That's the take I have on Lydia. She knows her actions are firm and sometimes very harsh, but she also looks after them.

I guess getting older has its benefits, one of them being perspective.

At some point you realize, I have dreams. I would love to be working on wonderful roles, in wonderful films, with people I respect and admire. And that will come in its time. In the meantime, "Pay attention to your work. Get better at what you do." That's my job.

In actor's career, I had a fair amount of denial, which I think is possibly in the genes, where I just couldn't go to, "Maybe this won't work out." I just couldn't do it. My mind just refused to go there. I don't mean there weren't low periods. There were plenty. But I remember arriving in New York and I was maybe 32, and I didn't have an agent. I came from Chicago, where I had gone to school and worked and got my sea legs, so to speak, and I remember walking out of the subway, walking the streets, standing in front of the theater and saying, "I will work in this theater."

I think aging is underrated. As you grow older, you have perspective and you realize just how fortunate you are to be working. To be working with the people I've had the chances to work with, I honestly feel like the most fortunate person in the world. I think it's hugely important when you work to bring with you that spirit, which includes and immense sense of gratitude. How that translates into behavior is just to bring your energy, your good spirit and your appreciation, and do your homework and really listen to the person in front of you.