So I went home and I told my mom that I wanted to quit and be an actress and she said, “Huh, that sounds fascinating. It’s wonderful!” And I told my father and he literally said, “I don’t care if you want to be an elephant trainer if it makes you happy.”

I loved Bette Davis when I was little and when I was big and when I got old.

Paddy Chayefksy was writing and it was a time where everybody was happy to be there [on TV].

So I went home and I told my mom that I wanted to quit and be an actress and she said, “Huh, that sounds fascinating. It’s wonderful!” And I told my father and he literally said, “I don’t care if you want to be an elephant trainer if it makes you happy.”

John [Cassavetes] loved actors. He gave them a lot of freedom. So if something came up that a certain actor just felt at the moment and said - that kind of improvisation he would accept. He gave very little direction.

I read the script of [Woman Under the Influence ] 50 times. And I thought about it. And then I did it.

After you play a part, you think of it as your own.