As human beings, what makes us able to empathize with people is a connection that is not necessarily understood mentally.

It's only when you risk failure that you discover things. When you play it safe, you're not expressing the utmost of your human experience.

I've always had that going on: "I can't," and then I do, so the voice says, "Well, that was an exception!" It's a tug-of-war between two voices: the one who knows she can and the one who's scared she can't.

I dress according to how I feel.

My immediate family was always very supportive. It was my own fear of the rest of the world not accepting me, the rest of our society not accepting my wish to be an actor.

I like people who don't tell you what you want to hear.

I never, in my wildest dreams, could I have thought that the first role I get out of school would lead to an Oscar nomination.