It is a revolutionary experience. That's the best way I can describe it. It transforms you completely, in a second. Nature is very wise and gives you nine months to prepare, but in that moment-when you see that face, you are transformed forever.

As an actress, I really love people like Anna Magnani and Debra Winger. I also think there is nobody better than Meryl Streep.

The good thing is that I have always had wonderful people around me. It's dangerous when you start earning a lot of money and you become famous when you are too young.

Pedro Almodóvar asked me to watch italian films again as homework to look at the energy of all those women from the Italian neo-realist films. A lot of them had those characters that represented motherhood. For some reason, in the '50s in Italy, the mother figure was very important - and my character needed to have that energy.

There is a magic factor that is sometimes on a movie set, that is a really, really beautiful thing that cannot be compared to anything else, if you are somebody that is really passionate about acting or directing or the world of movies.

There are so many designers that I love, and I'm so lucky that I get to work with so many of them and sometimes spend time with them.

I love learning on the set. But, directing is not something I want to do.