I've been called many names like perfectionist, difficult and obsessive. I think it takes obsession, takes searching for the details for any artist to be good.

If I hear a record once, I usually never listen to it again. I rarely listen to music - unless it's Billie Holiday.

It's true that I have a very healthy ego; anybody who creates does.

I think when I was younger, I wanted to be a star, until I became a star, and then it's a lot of work. It's work to be a star. I don't enjoy the stardom part. I only enjoy the creative process.

It always gave me the creeps when I saw performers who desperately wanted the audience to like them. That's not what I'm about.

Our role as artist is more controversial now because there are those, claiming the absolute authority of religion, who detest much of our work as much as they detest most of our politics. Instead of rationally debating subjects like abortion or gay rights, they condemn as immoral those who favor choice and tolerance. They disown their own dark side and magnify everyone else's until, at the extreme, doctors are murdered in the name of protecting life. I wonder, who is this God they invoke, who is so petty and mean? Is God really against gun control and food stamps for poor children?

I'd started going to acting classes at 14, played 'Medea' at 15 and really wanted to be a classical actress.