The thing I always thought of myself as was an actress. I never thought: I want to be. It was always: I am.

It's in my nature to feel, 'I could be this! This could be mine!'

I loved New York. I made enough money and studied acting with Kenneth McMillan, which was my first formal training.

New York, oh my God, in my early 20s. I felt, this is home, this is really where I belong.

My whole thing is, I collect what I know I want to read, and I have certain bookshelves in my bedroom that contain all the books I haven't read yet.

My son was staying with me, and we got up to watch it, just before they announced supporting actress, he came up and put his arm around me. I think it was like, 'Either way, mom, I still love you.' But then it was funny because I saw it. I saw my picture, and I heard them announce it, but I had to ask him, 'Did I really see that?' I wasn't sure I was seeing it, but he assured me that yes, I was nominated for the Academy Award. We just sort of cried a little bit.

Filming is physically and emotionally hard, especially acting in something like this, where we go into the honest feelings of these people. But it's also very exciting because there's an adrenaline that's pumping (through you) when you're doing these scenes.