The sentiment that I had a little trouble with was the idea that, "You change the school, you change the community." I couldn't wrap my mind around that.

I had to invest in the love and understand that with the love comes the pain. So when he tells me that, the monologue is already there. Does that make sense?

Any actor will tell you, as soon as your ego and your vanity come into the mix, it destroys your work. Completely destroys it.

Most actors don't understand acting. I think it's an art form that craft is out the window. I don't think people get it at all, most of the time. Or they get some of it, not all of it. If you get an Academy Award nomination, you think 95 percent of the profession is unemployed at any given time, most people will never even find work as an actor, and the ones who do will probably make $50,000 a year at the most if they're lucky. Some will never do Broadway. Some will never do a major role. And a really, really, really small percentage of them maybe will be nominated for a major award.

I would love to star in a remake of Thelma and Louise. Yep, that's the one I'd be interested in redoing.

If you're a boxer, you want to get the ring with a Mike Tyson or Muhammad Ali type. When you're acting, you want to get in with Meryl Streep, and that's what I did.

I am not a morning person, but I always work out - always.