It would be really wonderful if people connected to the loneliness of what it means to be a human being in the world today.

Almost six years ago, before I was given the incredible opportunity to be in 'Leaving Las Vegas,' I was going through a long period of artistic confusion. I'd spent years doing work that hadn't pushed me enough, and I was beginning to wonder if I had any talent.

Growing up with three boys in a heavily male-dominated world, I especially needed to express myself as a woman.

My mom had started to go to work when I was nine or ten, so I was aware of women trying to find their own identities by working. But I was still influenced by men to such an extreme. I wanted to play their games and wanted to compete in their world and be like them.

Robert Kennedy was such an inspiring figure. His interest in politics seemed to come not from a desire for power, but from a need to help our society live up to its ideals.

I did 'The Karate Kid,' then I just went back to college. I didn't know how much money it made and I didn't have a publicist. I didn't have any sense of the business part of it.

It would be really wonderful if people connected to the loneliness of what it means to be a human being in the world today.