If I hadn’t left Texas, I might not have met the director Terrence Malick, and I wouldn’t have met my husband and I wouldn’t have had the children that I’ve had. Life is interesting like that.

A great screenplay is the most powerful bait in Hollywood.

Most things in my life I had before leaving home. Values, support, great family. I was shaped at an early age. A musician playing guitar, I wanted to be a folk singer.

I lived an idyllic 'Huckleberry Finn' life in a tiny town. Climbing trees. Tagging after brothers. Happy. Barefoot on my pony. It was 'To Kill a Mockingbird'-esque.

You relate to a character and you find that character within yourself. It's all parts of me. I don't leave characters behind. I just let them go.

But you finally think, there is what there is, and you have to work within those confines and just keep chipping away at your own work.

I don't take characters home with me.