I am convinced, completely convinced, that there was nothing random about [the adoption], she is the daughter I should have.

Maybe that whole love thing is just a grown-up version of Santa Claus; just a myth we've been fed since childhood. So, we keep buying magazines, joining clubs, and doing therapy and watching movies with hit pop songs played over love montages all in a pathetic attempt to explain why our love Santa keeps getting caught in the chimney.

There are assumptions made about the way you look. I'm always surprised when people don't think I'm smart.

Even in the first world, expectations are not as high for women as they are for men. We get that message subtly, but in the third world, it isn't subtle. Girls are isolated and encouraged not to talk to one another.

When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does.

Acting is what I do. It's not what I solely define myself as.

All of [motherhood] surprised me. It surprised me from the very first second I saw Jack. I'd believed that my pregnancy was a condition. It never computed. And there he was. Everyone made fun of me because I stared at him for months and months, not being able to believe he was real.