Its only when you are a great actor and are recognised for your good work that you become famous. Unless you are in the news for the wrong reasons!

I demanded two weeks of rehearsal because to me as an actor, that's the most important time.

A friend of mine described it this way: When they were born it was like a meteor landed in our house and blew everything apart. We had to just put all the pieces back.

It was not really a career choice that I had to make. It was something I knew right from the beginning. I had to be an actress... period.

I wanted to be an actress. In college I was a serious feminist and very political. I was determined to get one thing out of my career and that was respect. I didn't want money. I didn't care about fame.

Sure I faced the troubles and challenges that most actors and actresses face until they get noticed, but I was always confident of myself and my capabilities.

I'm more proud of quitting smoking than of anything else I've done in my life, including winning an Oscar.