If you do something that you’re not genuinely passionate about, it is a little soul-crushing. Just not worth it.

I could truly have gone through life thinking that women were these venomous creatures. Turns out, they’re not.

I discovered Orson Welles in college; my freshman English professor screened ‘Citizen Kane’ for us, and I wound up writing a 20-page term paper on it.

People with bipolar disorder have difficulty with boundaries.

It just seems like the most successful, iconic love stories are not so easy or escapist. I think the ones that stay with us and resonate are full of conflict, discord and misunderstandings ’cause that’s...

Narciso Rodriguez was my first fashion big brother. He made my wedding dress, which was wonderful.

I guess I stopped acting when I was 18 and didn’t pick it up again until I was 21. That wasn’t the plan, though. When I first started at Yale, the plan was to do...

I’ve always had a really active imagination. Lots of kids have imaginary friends. Mine just took on a rather demonic form.

Oliver Stone’s strategy is to unnerve the actors so as to make them alert and alive.

You have to pick your battles on set.

My parents never condescended to me. As a child, I always sat at the head of our dinner table. I was always given a lot of responsibility.

I fantasized about being a psychology major when I first started school, and I took a handful of Psych 101 classes.

I’m just always learning lines. I’ve learned to flag the really crucial scenes, and I start figuring them out and committing them to memory as soon as I get them.

Once you get over that peak of puberty, you hit a nice stride.

I’ve always very earnestly tried to do my best, so I just have to trust that and forgive myself for being fallible.

So much of my job is about finding another job, and that’s really boring.

I have this home in New York, I have a long-term relationship with my boyfriend, who’s from Australia, and I had this business that I had maintain. Even though I wasn’t actively shooting, there’s a...

Acting is the greatest answer to my loneliness that I have found.

I discovered Christopher Isherwood in college. His writing style is so direct, warm, and inclusive.

You know, let a few years go by until I hit my midlife crisis. Then that can be documented on film.

I actually haven’t been approached a whole lot for television, believe it or not.

I have this book club, and we don’t read one book; we offer up a few suggestions and create a library over time.

Maybe philosophy – I love talking about ideas. Or maybe art history. I was thinking about psychology, then I got really afraid because everybody says it’s terribly boring.

I took three years off. I differentiated myself from the industry. Found my identity – sort of… I haven’t graduated yet. I’m not legitimately educated yet, but maybe one day.

It’s very difficult to judge yourself. Extreme self-doubt is only attractive when it’s fictionalized. Which is why people love the movies. They are so reassuring.

Steve Martin is one of my favorite performers, writers, artists of all time.

I have to say that my dad’s face is very malleable. He’s barely got any cartilage in his face. I think I maybe inherited that Play-Doh-like physicality from him.

I get a little jealous of these actor boys. They walk into a club, and in two seconds flat there are swarms of girls who are wanting so badly to touch them or just say...

I don’t know any celebrated people that register in a big way who aren’t unique.

I’m only realizing now that I was a child actress because I always took myself so seriously.

I should be so lucky to be a misfit. I aspire to be a misfit.

I love sitting in the makeup trailer and getting my makeup done in 15 minutes as opposed to an hour and a half.

My go-to gifts are scarves from my friend Matin Maulawizada’s nonprofit organization, Afghan Hands, which supports disenfranchised women in Afghanistan. In exchange for their beautiful embroidery, the women are given financial aid and classes in...

Psychology and acting are very closely linked. It’s just about studying people and how they work. It can be an incredible discipline and exercise.

My first offer was when I was 12, and it was for a soap opera. And I turned it down because I knew that I was an unformed actor, and I didn’t want to develop...

What I needed was a connection to life that was real and lasting.

I started working when I was very young. I got an agent when I was 12, and fortunately was employed consistently from that point on. So I didn’t really go to a conventional high school....

But I don’t know if people are meant to be together. You have to have a lot in common, choose well and be really fortunate. It’s not like you’re sprinkled with fairy dust. You have...

I hadn’t been free from adult responsibilities since I was 12, and I needed to experience that. I really needed to just be a kid again.

Television lets audiences deeply connect with characters.

I would not say that secret-keeping is one of my finer skills, actually.

I particularly love Israel. I’ve had fantastic experiences there.

There’s certainly something very uncomfortable about the voyeurism involved in being in the press, being an actor, where people have a seemingly insatiable curiosity about, you.

I like reading novels because it provides insight into human behavior. I am really interested in feelings and think they are what define us as a species. When you really get it right in acting,...

The big question is always, ‘Eyes or lips?’ I tend to go with the eyes because I’ve got a lot more material to work with now – and it saves me from reapplying lipstick! I’m...

You don’t realize how useful a therapist is until you see yourself on e and discover you have more problems than you ever dreamed of.

I think because I am as earnest as I am, people were accepting of my evolving into a certified, legitimate, and grown up and I did take three years off.

I think I would make a lousy stay-at-home mom. It just wouldn’t suit me.

I was a serious kid to an absurd degree. I was overwhelmed with responsibility. You know, trying to play grown up. I overdid it.

You have to stay hydrated when you have crying scenes.