On a fundamental level - I know so many women in their 30s who didn't get married, or they did and it didn't work out, or they didn't have children because they were trying to get their careers going, or because they were expected to be independent, plus have a family. They didn't feel secure enough.

Fun wouldn't be the right word... it was the most difficult, challenging, physical, extraordinary stretch I've ever had to make, in all those wild regards.

It's one of the things that weirdly I always used to like about my job: that expressing the emotions of a writer or someone creative and breathing empathy and life into a character people can then identify with, that they'd feel less alone.

Desperation is the perfume of the young actor. It's so satisfying to have gotten rid of it. If you keep smelling it, it can drive you crazy. In this business a lot of people go nuts, go eccentric, even end up dead from it. Not my plan.

If you're not ready to be in a relationship, going out with someone much younger than you is probably a great idea, because you both can have a decent experience and hopefully nobody will end up feeling cheated when it ends.

Daring to me is having courage; it's a daily meditation to take breath and find strength.

Life sweeps you up. Some people resist a lot. I probably haven't resisted very much.