I love the chemistry that can be created onstage between the actors and the audience. It's molecular even, the energies that can go back and forth. I started in theater and when I first went into movies I felt that my energy was going to blow out the camera.

It is an odd paradox that a society, which can now speak openly and unabashedly about topics that were once unspeakable, still remains largely silent when it comes to mental illness.

There's something about a catharsis that is very important.

Taking power away from a man is a dangerous thing. Someone always pays.

Ismail Merchant was just the most seductive, passionate, outrageous, driven, genius of a man.

I think having pets helps sensitize people to the natural world.

With the hugely talented women I've worked with or observed, it's not a question about temperament or ego; it's a question about getting it right. If they've got a reputation for being difficult it's usually because they just don't suffer fools.