I guess I'm the perfect young lead actress. I'm not Chloe Sevigny - I'm not really a character actress. Some actors have "character" faces.

Sometimes we had to improvise. I hate to improvise because I felt like I couldn't find words.

I connected very much with all the work of Joan Crawford because she started as a flapper. She used to dance and sing and she was very cute. She had something that was so different from what she is at the end of her life and she started in the silent movies and then went into the talkies.

I tried to find a character and how I would be an American actress in the 30s. But if this was a talking movie [The Artist], I'm sure she would be exactly the same for me.

As an actor, you think you have to go really far and deep and cry and yell to be good in a scene. Sometimes that's not the point.

Maybe I'll put my iPod in two minutes before. But truly, I've listened to actors say that they loved to listen to music before a shot, and I really understand that now because it puts you in the mood and gives you energy.

I read Gloria Swanson's autobiography just because I wanted to know what it was like in the time.