I'm very fortunate to have the privilege of working with directors like Bill Condon and Paul Thomas Anderson, who I think is one of the greatest filmmakers of our time.

I can listen to the same song back-to-back for two to three hours straight. I'm not psycho; I swear. There are some songs I won't listen to any more because they are songs that helped me get to emotional places. Even if I hear it, I'll have to walk out of the room or turn it down. It sounds so strange but those things affect me in a certain way.

I've always laughed at the term "female director" or even "black director." A director's a director.

Being on a Paul Thomas Anderson film, the best decision an actor can make is to listen to Paul Thomas Anderson. Because he's probably not going to steer anyone in the wrong direction. I would always say go with your gut on any other movie set, but with Paul, I would say go with Paul's gut.

Nothing I do is salacious or provocative or shocking for the sake of that.

When you do something that people respond to, and then you start altering the blueprint for what worked, it's pretty fear-inducing. But sometimes, you have to do that, in order to push the boundaries.

I do it when I'm a preparing for a role quite a bit - I sit with music. It helps influence the discovery of something. Then sometimes during filming I like to listen to the same things. It brings me back to a place where I just feel more creative and focused.