I had done lots of theater and I really wanted to do screen work. I said to my agent, "Look, I really want to do screen work and I want to concentrate on that now" and he said, "Well, it's going to be tough for you."

I read the books and I really, really wanted to play the part. I started kundalini yoga, kickboxing and running, and completely changed my diet. I felt I wanted to undergo what was necessary for the part. I love a challenge. And I love defying limitation, gender stereotypes and people’s expectations of me as an actress.

Part of the reason why I love acting is that you do hope that somehow your work will connect to people and somehow expand their consciousness somewhat, and being able to challenge notions of prejudice through work - through my work - is really thrilling.

The freedom to be someone else entirely and be different versions of something. That's what I loved and I loved watching movies and I loved watching television, I loved reading books. That kind of escapism into another world was my favorite thing.

As a woman, we all want to feel attractive. We all want to feel that we're making the very best of ourselves so we can accept ourselves.

I heard that a lot and I just sort of thought, the world was an even more interesting place than the people who were making the decisions were perhaps interpreting it to be.

I was really, really lucky because I have always worked. It hasn't always been consistent, but I have always worked.