In families there is always the mythology. My father died when my kids were quite young still, and yet they still tell his stories. That is how a person lives on.

I've been thinking a lot about next year, which will be the first time in 25 years that I don't have a child at home.

This idea of selfishness as a virtue, as opposed to generosity: That, to me, is unnatural.

I do love acting. But to work as a photojournalist would have been extraordinary.

The natural state of motherhood is unselfishness. When you become a mother, you are no longer the center of your own universe. You relinquish that position to your children.

It [military action on Iraq] makes me feel ashamed to come from the United States. It is humiliating.

I had never done Shakespeare before, but I don't think you can be an actor and not do it. There were moments when I thought, I'm just not going to be able to pull this off.