There was a period in my late 30s where work slowed down for me, as it does for a lot of women. You're no longer the young, cute thing anymore and maybe you're not quite old enough to play (what others think of) in terms of women in charge.

When I was a young actress, I was called in just to do my part, and I didn't have any say or weight as far as any decisions go. But today, having worked as a producer and also having lived a little, I feel like I've found my voice more. I'm sure that it has influenced me as an actor and it will continue to do so.

Everybody can justify their actions. We all think that we're doing things for reasons that are meaningful to us. Maybe not to other people, but to us.

The people I love the most in the film industry are the writers. And I think they're the people who are most vulnerable and are really open to new ideas. They're the originators, the creators.

It's very difficult to put together an independent movie and a lot of times people really don't hire casting directors for that. Instead, they look for people that they've seen in other movies or they're friends with.

Real equality in films is going to take time and will directly reflect our society. So ladies, please speak up at home, at work, at school, everywhere. As more women continue to find their place in Hollywood we have to keep pushing for more dynamic and strong women's roles.

When I work with filmmakers today, I'm really an advocate for the women's roles that I see, to make them as layered and as deep as possible. I think many of them are underwritten.