At certain times you really feel as though you have to do something.

I could be making a lot more money now if I had chosen a different kind of movie, but none of that matters to me... I've done the parts I wanted to do.

Moments of pure happiness...come upon you unexpectedly. Don't be too preoccupied to experience them.

Usually, you get a script and you have the whole story. All the acts are there, for a play. You know what happens in the first, second and third acts, and you know how it starts, where you go and where it finishes. [With American Horror Story: Asylum], it's a whole new experience. I don't know where it's going, and I don't know what's going to happen next. It's been an interesting way to work. It's made me work in a much more fluid, braver way, just taking every chance that comes along.

I love being a mother. I loved being a daughter, a sister, a wife. I love being a woman with men. I love having given birth.

TV is sort of the only way to go for an actress my age to make a decent salary; with independent films, you just can't.

I've got nothing left to lose at this point. The work I've done is out there.