You can be a woman in charge of a production and still be generous and kind and insightful and decisive without being considered a butch in any way.

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.

I love to work on a set whether it's mostly men or mostly women, but there's something about being in a community of women that changes the energy.

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.

After I finished 'E.R.', I wanted to concentrate on re-examining what kind of actress I am and taking time for real-life things.

I always had something to think about or draw from, which as an actor is a gift. The beautiful thing about film is that it gets so much closer than stage. I love stage and that's what I started doing and it's a beautiful art form in of itself, but in film you can move your eyes to the side and somehow the audience can fill in the blanks of what you're thinking.

The one thing about being on 'ER' that has changed is that I'm more easily recognizable.