On the other hand, there are only so many people who really knew how she was exactly, like what did her accent sound like, and the fact that she developed profound deafness when she was first running the Harriet Lane.

I feel very privileged that I get to spend my life telling stories that mean something to people.

I'd like to think Helen very much understood what it was to be disadvantaged in the medical field. And that that was something that she never let dictate her choices.

Are you a polititcian or does lyin' just run in your family?

I don't read reviews, There's no value for me in reading them. Whether they're good or bad, they'll just make me self-conscious.

As a director, I get to have a much broader creative expression than as an actress.

I learn a lot from acting, but it's not my natural way. I can't help but write; I do it all the time. It's a condition of being for me.