MGM never really gave me a break. They loaned me out for leading roles, but cast me in programme pictures.
Art has a prophetic role, denouncing the culture it lays bare.
I didn't have to step up into a leadership role, ... I just had to be there and help out where I could. But this year I had to be more of the man.
The producers had seen "In a World..." and that's where they found me out and consequently sought me out for this role [in Man up].
Some of the best roles are for women in these independent, smaller movies.
Whether it be in a small movie or a big movie, I would always be attracted to this role.
Every actor wants to be everybody - play all the roles.
I love playing a role where I think I'm right and then you learn you're not.
I've tried to take the opportunity to be as positive a person as I can be, as positive role model as I can be.
I wanted to get away from having a minister who pretends to be a certain type of role model. I don't want my life to serve as an example for anyone.
Often, the roles I'm offered in England are melancholic women who are filled with regret for the past, regret for their fading beauty.
I don't apply [being a role model] to the choices I make. I feel like a role model is not necessarily someone you want to imitate, just someone you admire.
A question that I can't answer is: what do you want to do next? What's your dream role? What are you really looking to do? Where do you see yourself? It doesn't make any sense because that's such an outsider's perspective.
The fundamentals of what I'll do to prepare for a role don't really change. They evolve as you work with more actors and you pick up more tricks.
I put a lot of faith in dreams. I know that big movie roles and opportunities are going to happen.
I value men and I don't necessarily want to adopt the man's role, but I do want to see women's humanity honored and respected.
I would never play any role in anything that involves the United Nations for obvious reasons.
My role is to make sure we're moving in the right direction, getting points, rebounds, steals, assists and providing leadership.
Like every actor, you get notorious for maybe one role and then get offered a lot of similar roles.
As for dream roles, they usually just speak to you. I just crave complex characters.
I don't think roles help you resolve your issues. I just think they're good markers.
I want to play an action hero. I'm ready for roles that totally aren't me.
The performances that I love are ones like Gena Rowlands in 'A Woman Under the Influence,' where women are allowed to be messy and imperfect. It's that kind of woman that has always inspired me to seek roles that are a little out of the box. I just haven't always had the opportunity to do them.
I've always had a process that I do before I even get to set or go to the location. I work privately, and it almost feels like therapy between me and who I'm playing. So I have this inner life that's there and it gives me a confidence, too, that when I'm playing the role I know every question.
Women are foils to men. It is hard for women to take a lead role even in NGOs for political resistance.
