I remember seeing Janet McTeer in A Doll's House. My grandmother took me and we had seats in the very back row, but her performance was so powerful - it was very accessible. I felt like I was much closer than I was.
The exercise in theater is night after night you are doing the same play, but you have another opportunity to explore. It changes nightly even because of the audience and your day going into the evening of the performance. With film it's much more controlled.
With film, so much is in the director's hands. Once something is cut together - unless you're in the editing room - you don't really remember what the alternatives are.
Bill Pullman is older than Aaron Eckhart - although I was older too - and the age difference changes the play. My perspective on those issues had changed a lot. Without going into nerdy details about that play, there was something that still stuck with me. I still had the same joy in that dialogue and David Mamet's rhythm in terms of his writing. I felt like there was still something to explore.
I like a director that encourages me to be playful. I don't really like being restricted or controlled by a director.
It was nice that there [ in the Bourne Ultimatum ] was a reference to the relationship . It's very subtle - it's actually without dialogue. I do think it's powerful even without words.
I think it's really special to be a part of something that people are still watching or thinking about or interested in, or remember fondly many years later. I don't think it's annoying at all.
I did a different production with a different director and Bill Pullman. Oleanna - the one you saw - we were doing right after Bourne Identity or right after it came out.
I kind of don't believe in actors directing themselves. Obviously some people have done it well, but I don't see how I could. It's funny that you ask, because I've just been thinking that maybe I'd rather direct The Bell Jar than act in it. It's a huge leap to go from a short to a feature, so I'm tentative - I'm like, Well, that's just so triple-type-A personality of you.
Education is huge for me. I went to public school until I turned thirteen, and was lucky enough to afford college once I became successful as an actress. I cannot believe that quality education costs as much as it does in this country. Ghetto Film School is a remarkable public high school in New York City where students get to learn to express themselves through filmmaking, and have hands-on access to equipment.
I'm not good at keeping secrets. If I'm entrusted with a secret from a friend, I can do that because I'm a good friend, but I don't like having secrets, it makes me nervous.
My grandmother took me to a lot of theater. I was exposed to performance quite a bit - everything from Broadway to off-Broadway and dance and music as well. I was very lucky that way. It was a very rich childhood.
It's not my job to critique the writing. I'm there to serve it. I had to figure out a way to make it work.
Actors can write and produce too. Then when I was working on Jason Bourne - having had that experience - instead of going back to my trailer and being separate from everyone else, I would sit behind the monitor and watch Paul Greengrass work and be much more included in the process. That was new for me and really enriching.
I do think that the more takes you have the more opportunity to experiment [but] at a certain point, there are diminishing returns. There's only so much variety you offer.
I feel like I have a skill set, but every experience is different and there's always room for improvement.
When Paul [Greengrass] was writing, he'd send me story ideas that he had. He was particularly interested in social movements and revolutions that had been happening all over the world, and how computers and the internet had helped those movements. He encouraged me to read a book about Anonymous, the hacker group called "white hat" hackers, meaning they're driven by ideology and social disruption as opposed to just greed.
Education is huge for me. I went to public school until I turned thirteen, and was lucky enough to afford college once I became successful as an actress.
Seeing other people in pain causes me pain.
The only thing that gets me through any type of pain, emotional or physical, is to make it worthwhile by putting it into my work.
I was happy when I read the script [The Bourne Ultimatum ] - the first version they sent me - to see that before, there's some humanity too.
I am forever grateful that I got some training in the theater - it reduces performance anxiety.
Theater is like going to the gym for actors.
I know it sounds earnest, but I do really feel in my bones that acting is just a small part of the equation when you are making a movie. The director really is in charge. Actors are as important or unimportant as the rest of the people around them.
I used to struggle a lot with dwelling on how the day at work was, and I would dwell on my performance. Now, I'm like, "Well, that's over and done with, and I can't control the outcome, so move on." I just remember that it's entertainment I am making.
