When I'm pushing myself, testing myself, that's when I'm happiest. That's when the rewards are greatest.

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.

I had a dozen years to act before starting a family then found that motherhood dwarfed everything else. Once or twice a year, I take a project that appeals to me for its redeeming social value.

I wanted to put all my family stories down for my girls, and I remember everything so vividly. I just wanted to put everything down while I still can remember it all.

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 shouldn't change what you are in the search for success.

A great screenplay is the most powerful bait in Hollywood.