Art and activism seem to go together naturally, the idea being that if you're an entertainer, you can have a voice, and if you have a voice, you can make a difference. But if I were not an actress, I would still try to extend myself beyond my little micro-universe of my job, family and personal joy.

When I'm doing a movie, that's when I relax. As stressful as it can be, as much pressure as it should be, making movies is still the place where I feel the most at ease and I truly enjoy it. That's why I make so many.

I think that a lot of women that know they're going to be part of history somehow decide to have a character to be remembered by.

My mother was devoted to helping people - with my father's money! - who had great voices but didn't have the financial means to study music. He and my mum gave away dozens of music scholarships, and my mum opened a school in town, introduced opera to children and created fantastic programmes.

They thought I was crazy in Mexico when I said, 'I'm going to Hollywood.' Nobody thought I could make it.

How I would describe my characters is absolutely different from how I would describe myself.

It's very easy to feel someone's pain when you love them.