I really have never been concerned about being beautiful on-screen. That’s just not my jam.

Every time I make a movie, I’m prepared for it to become influential and career-defining – but I have no control over these things.

By the time I went to Yale, I’d been acting for a long time and I was really tired of it. I was restless – and a little bored – and I was really eager...

Every three seconds in the developing world, a child dies needlessly due to lack of basic health care and other things we all take for granted.

People confuse fame with validation or love. But fame is not the reward. The reward is getting fulfilment out of doing the thing you love.

I’m exceptionally open with my own parents, and they’re exceptionally open with me.

I finally realized that yeah I did want to be an actor and it wasn’t out of habit, but I needed to grow up for myself and then kind of re-enter the industry with a...

Growing up in New York City, I was always encouraged to question authority, and I think I confused patriotism with jingoism.

Autism does exist on a spectrum, and there are so many manifestations of it, so many kinds of expressions of it. And every case is particular.

The first time I realised I was patriotic was after September 11th.

I do know how to fire a machine gun, so be warned! I’m trained!

I really liked Yale, although it was extremely intimidating. When I visited the campus, I was hiding behind trees, I felt so unworthy.

I can get a dance party started pretty much anywhere and anytime.

I care about being formally physically attractive in my life, and I think that I am quite vain about my performance. I’m just not vain about how I look while I give the performance.

I actually think in some ways that it might be more challenging to be bipolar because it’s so mercurial – it’s so ever-changing. You can’t get any traction. You can’t build on a system. Whereas,...

I’m so impressed by Jennifer Lawrence and Carey Mulligan. They have this exquisite taste. They are very gifted in their ability to make great choices.

In New York City, everybody goes into therapy.

I got an agent when I was 12, and I started working in more amateur productions well before that. But even as a kid, I never felt like a kid actor, you know? I always...

Relationships are a constant negotiation and balance.

When you really get it right in acting, it’s an act of empathy. You feel less distant from others, and that is really exciting.

Voice over can be tricky. It can be dangerous because it’s over-used or inappropriately used.

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.