I remember when I took the role on E.R., I thought, 'I haven't really been able to play a working class woman. I've played girls, I've played funny, but I haven't played a working class woman. That sounds like something I'd like to do.

Everything seems to take on a new meaning when you become a parent and you put yourself in the shoes of the parent, not the shoes of the child.

People who have no idea it's me when they first see me playing something, and later they realize, 'That's her from whatever it is,' it's a great compliment that they can forget.

People are drawn to watching things that are dramatic. And the tighter a relationship is, the more dramatic it can be. That's something family lends itself to. Everybody has family, somewhere, somehow. Those relationships are always very complex. This takes it to almost Greek-tragedy-level heights. That's fun to watch, although it's very uncomfortable. It explores the darkest sense of family.

I have sort of the career where, if you are a fan, you've been following me for a while, and you really like something that I've done, so meeting those people is always a really gracious experience.

I think the hardest thing about the part is the responsibility that you feel playing something that is so real and resonant in our times. There are people coming home right now with those stories, and I'm just an actress pretending to be that person. You hope that you can shed some light on somebody's predicament.

Yes, I'm very close to my family. And being that close to your family, I think you also struggle with how to become your own person.