I was barely in 'Taking Woodstock.'

I'm overly sentimental and don't throw things away.

All acting is nudity. It's all vulnerable - and a little bit scary.

I love connecting with a character out of the blue, not knowing why.

I find life so shocking in general. Everything about it surprises me.

I dont think Paul Thomas Anderson has a standard approach to anything.

I don't think Paul Thomas Anderson has a standard approach to anything.

Ive always wanted to play the villain. But the young girl is never the villain.

I've always wanted to play the villain. But the young girl is never the villain.

I don't have shame with my body. I don't find a breast more vulnerable than an elbow.

For 'Beasts,' I really wanted my character to be this sort of mushy, muscleless Muppet.

Sometimes you meet people, and you somehow feel like you've known them your whole life.

Seeing someone happy on set is just a very small slice of the reality of an actor's life.

Shower scenes are great. Janet Leigh never took a shower again in her life after 'Psycho'.

What appeals about the '70s is the celebration of the female form, the lack of constriction.

When I got to NYU, I immediately inquired about doing a double major in acting and photography.

I feel a kind of permission and freedom in my work that I might not allow myself in my real life.

I generally don't like to talk too much about the character unless I feel stuck or in some trouble.

I look back at my adolescence, and Im shocked at the things I did that were my idea of adult behavior.

I look back at my adolescence, and I'm shocked at the things I did that were my idea of adult behavior.

Some days, the first coffee just laughs at you. It says, 'Oh, you think I'm going to wake you up? Sucker.'

Every now and then, you get lucky enough to work with some people you feel like you would take a bullet for.

Actors are sensitive freaks, but it amazes me that it is something that I haven't improved on over the years.

Self-promotion is not my strong suit, for sure. I don't look down on it; I just don't understand how to do it.

I think I really would have quit if I hadn't gotten 'Inherent Vice'. Or maybe I would have just shriveled up and died.

I didn't find it difficult to live in the 'Inherent Vice' world or play those scenes, because they just seemed so real.

I didn’t find it difficult to live in the “Inherent Vice” world or play those scenes, because they just seemed so real.

I wonder sometimes if I've got in the habit of only being courageous when someone else has written the words I have to say.

Costume design is so important and really helpful, and I really love that aspect of character development, just figuring it out.

I basically never believed that I was a commercial actor. Just because of the outcome of many auditions over time. No one hired me.

I feel like people assume if a character is very different than you, that means it's difficult to get into their head or into their skin.

When 'The Master' came around, they said they wanted to try and find a part for me, and I got a text from the casting director saying that.

I think it's a luxury when you love the thing you're promoting, and then you don't have to try to think of something, try and find some angle.

I'm constantly struggling in interviews to engage and finish sentences, because I am being asked personal questions from somebody I don't know.

So when things start going badly, you're invested in the characters in a way I think amplifies the horror and the fear because you're invested.

It's weird. I feel like people assume if a character is very different than you, that means it's difficult to get into their head or into their skin.

I have been a scrappy actor for 10-plus years, and when you're playing supporting roles, your relationship with the costume designer is very different.

I didn't feel a specific pressure to prove myself because I had an actor in the family. I didn't feel that pressure to fill some big shoes or anything.

I really love fashion, but I feel like the older I get, the more I am drawn to the basic things in my daily life because everything else is so goofy and crazy.

'Inherent Vice' was a novel that already existed, and in 'Steve Jobs,' I was playing a real person; in those situations, you do feel an added pressure to please.

I think it's quite common for actors to almost rely on their characters to exercise parts of themselves in their regular life they don't tend to explore so much.

When you're playing Marilyn Monroe, you have a responsibility to look and sound like her that you don't when you're playing people who weren't ever in the public eye.

One of my earliest memories was when I was three, going to this full-length mirror in my parents' bathroom and saying into the mirror, 'You are going to be an actress.'

I guess whatever the director's energy is is kind of contagious on set, because, um, you know, it's a hierarchy, and we're all kind of looking to the director for guidance.

When you come from a family of actors, people in show business, they really know to celebrate good news and to celebrate it hard because it's not every day that you get it.

That period between finishing the film and opening night is agonising. That's part of why actors go from job to job - so they don't have to live with the anxiety in the interim.

Usually on films, you get used to kind of being told, 'This is what you're going to wear, this is what you're going to hold, and remember, you're lucky to be here, and shut up.'

I've never had to talk about my work, nobody's given a damn about it - you know, what I thought. I find that I sort of like that, to get to keep it to myself. It's a bit bizarre.

I thought acting was what grownups did. It was such a part of my childhood. I was already in love with performing before I knew there were other options. By then, it was too late.

People think the advantage of a parent in the business is that they'll open doors for you. But the true advantage for me is having someone who knows exactly what you're going through.

Share This Page