I'm looking for the truth. The audience doesn't come to see you, they come to see themselves.
Julianne Moore
It's not difficult to take care of a child; it's difficult to do anything else while taking care of a child. Trying to clean up the kitchen after you've had a baby is a nightmare because you have to wait for the baby to be asleep, you're exhausted, and you really don't want to clean up the kitchen now.
Behavior is mutable. It changes from place to place. It's like accents, dialect - it varies from one area to another. But there are universal truths about what it means to be a human being. All the other stuff is like applique. Learning that was interesting to me and probably useful for becoming an actor.
If I had to choose between clothes and furniture, I'd choose furniture.
I think that one of the things that you do learn is that falling in love and being in love with someone is a rarity. That you don't fall in love as many times as you think you're going to. And then when you do, it's really special; it's really important.
Every different social group that I encountered had its different set of rules, so you learn very quickly how to pick up the nuances and change yourself accordingly. When you are not from anywhere, you have to try to find what's universal. You are always trying to fit in.
I actually think acting is a form of self-hypnosis. You have to be hyper, hyper aware of what's going on around you. You have to know where the lens is, what the shot is, and where you're moving. And then you have to trick yourself into an emotional state where you believe this stuff is actually happening.
Art is an expression of who we are, what we believe, and what we dream about.
If you're 50, you're never going to be 50 ever again, so enjoy being 50. If you sit through the year wishing you were younger, before you know it, it's going to be over, and you're going to be 51.
I have a very, very normal life. I really do - with the exception of being very lucky and privileged. I have two children, a dog, and a husband. We live in New York, the kids go to school, and we're fortunate that we have flexible schedules. I like that. That's what I want.
I knew from very early on that I wanted kids. I wasn't one of those women who goes, 'Well, if it happens, it happens.' I really wanted a family. Although I didn't actually have my first child until I was 37, I always felt I'd get there.
We didn't have a lot of money growing up, so my mom didn't buy a lot of extras, like sweet things.
We like drama. Even in our comedy, we like drama.
Movie studios aren't making too many dramas anymore; they're in the superhero business. Material for television is much, much stronger for actors now.
Comedy is ridiculously hard. And if the rhythm is not right, if the music or the line is not right, it's not funny.
I think to be courageous, you have to be afraid. For me, it feels very courageous when I go skiing because I'm very, very afraid to ski. It's dangerous! I feel very scared. But when I'm acting, I don't feel very scared.
My mother brought us to the library every week, and I read a lot. That's what kept me company. I went from school to school, but there was always reading.
My life may be a pretty crazy life at times, but it's a very privileged one - being able to earn a good living doing what you love. Not many people have such an opportunity.
I'm not really afraid of things that are imaginary. I enjoy it. I enjoy big narrative, and I enjoy big feelings. Having a feeling is never going to kill you.
When someone says, 'I'm not political,' I feel like what they're saying is, 'I only care about myself. In my bathtub. Me and my bathtub is what I care about.'
The worst thing you could do is scare a kid or trick them. Never, ever, ever do that.
You have to be in yourself, but engage with the world and see what's going on.
I do remember when I was starting acting, going from one set to the next, with not much else going on in my life. And at the end of the day, you get back to your hotel room and just feel this awful loneliness, because the cameras have stopped rolling.
I think everybody has had emotional distress, but yes, I think I'm pretty stable.
I can't wait to get home and wash all those socks.
When my son first started to take the subway, my husband and I used to follow him to make sure he was all right, and then we had to stop following him and let him do it by himself.
This is someone who has a very stringent morality, and believes the system works, and has been deeply, deeply disappointed, and hurt, by it. You know, so she's in a very different place in life.
As an actor, there are places you can live, and when I graduated from school, it was either New York or L.A., and I liked the East Coast. That's why I ended up in New York.
I've always been somebody who's acutely aware of my mortality.
Even ordinary people aren't ordinary, not really. They're filled up with thoughts and feelings that you might never know are there until they suddenly materialise.
I moved frequently because my dad was in the army, so I was always new in school. I think if you've ever done that, you know what it means to not matter in a room. I think it's a good experience for everyone to have, to feel like they're not noticed, because it teaches you to be empathetic.
When I was seven, these kids in the alley behind our house in Omaha called me Freckleface Strawberry. I hated my freckles, and I hated that name. I thought it was humiliating in the way that only a seven-year-old could hate it.
I think every part's a challenge, and you also never know if you're going to pull it off.
The one thing that kids need is consistency.
We shouldn't require our politicians to be movie stars. Then again, we're all influenced by charisma. It's hard not to be. We all collectively fall for it.
Well, you know, I mean, she was so wonderful, and she really played the role to perfection.
All I wanted was to be a regional-theater actor, to be in a company. I thought it would be a great life. I don't think I understood how difficult it would be.
I don't know why women do Botox. It doesn't make them look younger, it just makes them look like they had work done. You are not going to look the same as you did at 25.
I'm not someone who is driven by big external stories. I like big emotional stories.
Jennifer Lawrence is so talented and so lovely. She has a real ability to connect with people.
You know, comedy's hard. With drama, you have a responsibility to the emotional truth, but with comedy, you have emotional truth and you have technique on top of it.
Really, you want to have variety as an actor. If you spend your career doing one thing solidly, people get burned out.
I love clothes - I love shopping for clothes, I love wearing clothes, I love talking about clothes - but oddly, putting on the dress and walking around in front of people, that's the place where I'm most uncomfortable.
It's very important for me to be absolutely present in order to be emotional.
If you're reading IMDB, half of it's made up. You can't trust it or Wikipedia, which is just lies, lies!
The thing about having a very young mother who had you at 20 is that you expect that you're going to be old ladies together.
When I go to a movie and can't figure it out, I'm just thrilled.
I've got more freckles than just about anybody. My children didn't get them, thankfully. They have tiny little freckles.
In grade school, I was a complete geek. You know, there's always the kid who's too short, the one who wears glasses, the kid who's not athletic. Well, I was all three.
Parenthood is a very, very intense experience.
