I aspired to be extremely sophisticated.

I have a surfboard that says 'Linda Hunt Choice TV Actress: Action.' I am an action star! I don't know what that is about, but I like it.

I can't be a man. But I can embrace the head of a man, the intelligence of a man, the spirit of a man.

Everybody either wanted to take care of me or push me around, you know? I was teased a lot, sure I was, of course. Fourth grade, fifth grade, sixth grade, everybody was taking their spurts except me. I was not growing up.

It really hit home that my parents felt as though they didn't have to worry anymore. They realized if you could win an Oscar, that was a good sign.

For me to want to be an actor was an improbable idea. I wasn't beautiful or pretty in any conventional way. I wasn't an ingenue at 22. But I was always certain of it and certain of its power. I felt the power when I went to the theater at 9, 10, 12 and 14.

The world is what you make of it, friend. If it doesn’t fit, you make alterations.