I'm not necessarily less gratified by films where you're given less room to maneuve. Because I love a great script, and I love to respect it, and I love to try to give a director what he needs and wants, especially having directed now. [Laughs.] I'm much more open to try to give him what he wants and figure it out. I like working with directors I respect and admire, obviously. And everybody has their own way.
Jennifer Jason LeighYou try to find the internal life, but a lot of it is creating it through physical behavior and figuring out the voice when you create as much of a past as you would in a naturalistic piece. But it's fun, because it's like you're learning something, learning some kind of physical skill.
Jennifer Jason LeighIt usually takes about two and a half weeks after you're done filming where you kind of return to yourself again.
Jennifer Jason LeighI think Robert Altman could see things in me that I didn't know I possessed, which is really exciting. He also instilled a tremendous amount of confidence, because he would say things like, "These are the bare bones, but I want you to go fill it out. You find the character. You bring it to me. You write whatever you want." And if you had an idea, he wouldn't want to hear about it. He's want you to show it to him.
Jennifer Jason Leigh