It took me getting to my 50s before I could say "Whatever!" about other people's criticism, especially when it's not true.
I didn't back into being an actor, I was born one.
When it came down to doing the nude scene, I couldn't hide how humiliating it was for me; I burst into tears.
Louis Armstrong said you have to live a life. And that's right. If you don't live a life, you don't got nothin' to come out your horn.
I don't want to look old and worn, but what can you do? My real focus is being an actor. I care more about having the opportunity to play roles that I haven't played than I care if my neck looks like someone's bedroom curtains.
Acting has been my lover and best friend. My confidant and my tormentor. It has given me support and broken my heart and mended it.
I've grown used to being lonely over the years, so I don't seek to change it. But aren't there many people who are lonely?
I haven't had an orthodox career, and I've wanted more than anything to have your respect. The first time I didn't feel it, but this time I feel it, and I can't deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me!
What does the Academy Award mean? I don’t think it means much of anything.
There are not a lot of places for an actor to explore what it's like to be a woman in her 60s. There aren't any films about it and there very few TV series about it.
But I was losing so much bone density that I would have been in grave danger. And I mean grave danger. If I had let it go just a few more years I could have broken my hip or spine just picking up my granddaughter
I had to let my ego go a long time ago.
When you're old, you are more certain of who you are, and that may be a good thing or a bad thing.
I'm highly emotional, so I'm highly aware of humiliation.
I have a tendency to think of myself as the mutt of the litter. I'm not purebred.
Get over it. Get on with your life.
I was just lucky enough to grow up in a time when they actually had drama departments in schools.
I never felt safe. In high school, acting is what I did to stay sane. It wasn't about showing off; it was about revealing parts of myself that I couldn't reveal anyplace else.
Never, ever, have I felt really accepted in Hollywood.
I've done some good work and some not-good work.
I've had such an odd career. I always wanted to be a great actor. I wanted to be Katharine Hepburn - ish - there was a bit of nobility about her. Instead I've always felt like the mutt standing on the sidelines, panting and saying, "Me, too! How about me?" That's just part of my personality.
I've had such an odd career.
You can't help but feel all the human-rights issues.
Like a jerk, I went to a nutritionist and I ate the most repulsive, awful things. I didn't allow myself to eat chocolate cake and french fries and cheeseburgers.
I so believe that older women have tremendous value to their families, their community, their country, the world.
