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."
Ann DowdI have to say my background was mostly theatre, which I love, and it took a long time to feel comfortable there. That's probably true of anyone's career.
Ann DowdMy basic thought about actors, and I would say this to my students - I love to teach, but I haven't in awhile because I've been fortunate enough to be working - that, "If this is the work you love, there is work for you. That's how the world works. That's the attitude you have to go in there with. You just have to know that it's coming."
Ann DowdI 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.
Ann Dowd