The majority of work I do is in independent films, where you're lucky if you have five takes.

I always try to approach character first and foremost viscerally.

But I have had the luxury of working on good films with great people.

But no, had I been successful in my 20s I would have been just fine. But it is nice to defy the odds.

Why are comedic parts for women the exception, not the rule?

That's the hardest part of acting: when it is ultra-personal, when it is deeply personal, and there's no lying involved. You can't fake it, you can't get by it. This is dealing with the most primal instincts and emotions that a mother can have.

I love writers. All of my best friends are writers.