I can say, 'I am terribly frightened and fear is terrible and awful and it makes me uncomfortable, so I won't do that because it makes me uncomfortable.' Or I could say, 'Get used to being uncomfortable. It is uncomfortable doing something that's risky. But so what? Do you want to stagnate and just be comfortable?'

It takes me about 10 years to appreciate what it is I've done.

What reaches an audience is honesty. If you're saying something truthful that's supposed to be a funny line, it's going to be funny. And if it's supposed to be a serious line, it's going to be serious. But, I don't think there's a distinction between how you play drama or comedy, if it's based in the truth.

I go by instinct - I don't worry about experience.

It’s like an American tradition. A person gets successful and then he’s supposed to change for the worse. It’s silly.

It's very often the artist who gives a voice to the voiceless by speaking up when no one else will.

I think of myself as a girl from Brooklyn.