I'd like to think Helen very much understood what it was to be disadvantaged in the medical field. And that that was something that she never let dictate her choices.
Mary Stuart Masterson
I learn a lot from acting, but it's not my natural way. I can't help but write; I do it all the time. It's a condition of being for me.
I guess you should approach the roles differently when they're actual people who have been, this is the difference. Getting the accent exact, or the hair exact is less important in a situation like this.
You know, in playing a role like this, you really want to get it right, because this is a person who was revered by so many doctors, women doctors especially.
I think she looked at Vivien the same way. Of course you can. You know. And, and yet with great respect, because she knew how hard it must have been. And that it was even harder for him, of course, than for her.
I think I am a writer, but professionally I feel drawn to and suited for directing.
On the other hand, there are only so many people who really knew how she was exactly, like what did her accent sound like, and the fact that she developed profound deafness when she was first running the Harriet Lane.
She came up with a whole way of doing fluoroscopy, which is kind of like a live version of X-ray, so that she could see the heart as it worked, not frozen in a picture.
Just the actual physical ability to hold four instruments simultaneously and do some of the things that Vivien was able to do is mind blowing to any surgeon. He never went to medical school and he became one of the great teachers of medicine himself, people are just amazed.
The fact that he didn't get credit for a while is more the story of social injustice. But his own spirit wasn't driven by that, and wasn't dependent upon that. He just wished he had the cash to go to medical school.
What is more important is finding the soul of the character, and making sure it fits well into this story. And that it be dramatic and interesting and captivating, because these people weren't entertainers, you know.
In this case they're doctors. But having passion for your work and to take risks in order to better human kind. That's a pretty big theme. It's pretty inspiring.
And that's what's beautiful to me, is he did not become a victim of it, and he didn't become a statistic, he just kind of kept on marching through, no matter what people threw at him.
As a director, I get to have a much broader creative expression than as an actress.
I love film sets, but I don't necessarily love being the center of attention.
I feel very privileged that I get to spend my life telling stories that mean something to people.
I don't read reviews, There's no value for me in reading them. Whether they're good or bad, they'll just make me self-conscious.
Since I was a child, I've liked telling stories. Maybe because my father's a director, I grew up loving stories. I'm not good at spinning them at a dinner table because I do go on a bit, but I love writing them, and directing is just a way of editing the story.
I learned from Francis Ford Coppola to treat the company like your family.
