Honestly, acting is the most work when you're unemployed. For me, the actual acting part is never hard. It's the politics and basically everything around the acting that is difficult.

The first time I took a Kundalini yoga class, I cried my eyes out afterwards. I was so moved by the meditation and singing "Long Time Sun" at the end of class. I felt like I was home.

I did a couple of pilots that didn't sell, a few movies, and one year of nightclub work, which I hated. Then I did the pilot of 'The Brady Bunch' and never had to do another nightclub.

A friend of mine and I would go to this dirty little bar in Toronto that has karaoke every Tuesday night, and one night, we noticed that the only other person in there was Derek Jeter.

Some people in Hollywood think of me as a model for dramatic midlife transitions: suburban housewife to Emmy-winning actress. But I never plotted a master plan for following my dreams.

Everyone says TV's going down the tubes, and it's all reality, but there's some really good writing and some amazing opportunities if you're lucky enough to throw your hat in the ring.

Since I was 4, Julia Roberts has inspired me. I thought if I liked her enough, I'd become as pretty as her. That didn't happen, but I was obsessed and watched her movies over and over.

And my first film was Carnal Knowledge, another amazing experience, largely because of Mike Nichols, who would tell me you can't do anything wrong because you're doing everything right.

I had the luck that my parents educated me in three languages. With my mother I spoke Dutch, with my father Italian, and in the school I learned German. But my host language is Italian.

I think when I feel fear, thats often a cue that I should do something. If I begin to feel fear, thats a strong sign, psychologically, that something has its hooks in me somewhere deep.

The thing about the four-camera shows is that it's kind of a great combo of theater and film. You have an audience, but you have a camera to capture things, so that's a great thing, too.

As soon as my mother saw my father, she said, "Oh! I think I'm gonna marry that man." That's the reason I've been married four times, because I think it's that easy ... it really is not.

My mom, well, she's half Greek, half German-Italian; born in England. She's just a nomad. She loves Middle Eastern style, Indian style, so much so that she ended up having Indian babies.

It's true: theatre has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I always liked everything about it. As a child, I used to get so excited about performing, I'd get the giggles.

The Hideout is here to help you get through today and tomorrow. Be brave. It's not your fault. Remember, the road will get smoother and there is always hope that tomorrow will be better.

I work out six days a week. I do pilates, Bikram yoga and spinning. Every once in awhile, I'll throw weights in. I like to get some kind of cardio in every day, even if it's just hiking.

When I travel, there are no rules with my diet. I eat whatever looks good, but in small portions. Food is such a rich part of the travel experience. There is no way I would cut that out!

I just can't wait to get out there on stage. There's no anxiety at all. I love being able to take this journey with the audience, because we all have a ball with it - even if we're crying

I think when I feel fear, that's often a cue that I should do something. If I begin to feel fear, that's a strong sign, psychologically, that something has its hooks in me somewhere deep.

One of the reasons I wanted to teach deaf children was because it made me very sad that they spoke so clumsily and that they moved with less grace that I knew was possible of deaf people.

Some people in Hollywood think of me as a model for dramatic midlife transitions: suburban housewife to Emmy-winning actress. But I never plotted out a master plan for following my dreams.

It's a luxury being able to work every day in the streets of Manhattan. It doesn't get much cooler than that. When you move to New York, that's exactly what you dream of. And I'm doing it.

I just can't wait to get out there on stage. There's no anxiety at all. I love being able to take this journey with the audience, because we all have a ball with it - even if we're crying.

I went to a dialect coach and she told me that I had five problems; two were my Israeli accent and three were my New Jersey accent. I don't even want to know what I sounded like back then!

I've had so many horrible things happen in my life since I did 'Home Improvement' that it's worried me about doing comedy because - how do I say this - I'm a much darker person than I was.

You go where you think it's good for your work and your soul to go. I need to go someplace where I am reminded about why I wanted to act in the first place, and for me, that's the theater.

You know when a script is good but you don't have any knowledge how visually it is going to look. When this [Happy Valley] came out and I saw the first episode and thought it was terrific.

I think theater will always be my first love. Ive been doing it since I was nine, and theres nothing quite like being on stage, having the immediate intake of energy and exchange of ideas.

I am indebted to [my grandmothers] always for cradling me in the heart of Christ and encouraging my passion to press towards the mark of the high calling on my life, wherever that takes me.

Somebody said, 'Get your agent to call the new Bob Cummings show. They're looking for a funny lady.' Within three hours, I had the job. That was January 1955. I had such fun with that show.

Secretly, I'm a real big nerd. I'd rather stay home and play Scrabble than go to a Hollywood party, any day of the week. And I love reading about history and watching the Discovery Channel.

I don't like somebody saying to me in their performance, 'Look at this. Isn't this funny?' I pray that I don't do that. I'm sure I fall off the horse every once in a while, but I try not to.

I think theater will always be my first love. I've been doing it since I was nine, and there's nothing quite like being on stage, having the immediate intake of energy and exchange of ideas.

I'm sure my mum was a huge influence on my wanting to be an actress: just seeing her doing it, seeing her love it, caring about it. Invest in something, take it seriously and be so wonderful.

My boyfriends love my dad. He's like the perfect in-law to have. In fact, if my boyfriend and I are in a fight, my dad will choose his side. Always! He loves me, but it is tough love with me.

I think the great thing about acting is that it's not all the same. You're constantly challenged and constantly pushed to your limit. It's nice to see how your body can adapt to these things.

I think therapy can be very revealing and useful for actors. You start to dig deep and understand certain mechanisms that you hadn't been aware of before and, you know, meanings behind things.

There is that idea of seeming crazy when you're seeing spirits or you're seeing dead people, you know what I mean? There's a certain sort of stigma, a sort of kookiness, when it comes to that.

It's important to have strong images of women out there, women who aren't afraid of expressing themselves, women who aren't afraid of taking chances, women who aren't afraid of their own power.

I always want the audience to identify with my character in some way. I mean, sometimes you'll get characters that aren't very identifiable. Sometimes you can't relate to your character at all.

But I am Northern myself, and there is a certain rhythm of Northern speech that is very comical: that combination of the choice of language and the speech rhythm, which in itself is very funny.

In the war against breast cancer, we have the ability to arm ourselves with knowledge and education is a powerful tool. By taking action and doing something positive, fear is replaced with hope.

I'd guess that every American action film would be different. It's just training, training hard, training a lot. Then trying to give your best performance on the day, and I've been lucky so far.

I got a job as a human rights and refugees officer, working on youth-based projects. But I realized all the kids I was working with were far more into 'The Daily Show' than the policy briefings.

I think if you want to be seen as an intelligent woman, you can't be someone who feels empowered and sexy. I just don't understand who makes these rules, and frankly, I'm not interested in them.

It's wonderful when you happen across it as an actor, finding a young actor that is literally just starting out and you understand that to them the craft is the most important aspect of the job.

If I'm feeling hurt, sad, lonely, depressed, and then I shame myself for feeling that, then that's a black hole for me. I really have worked a lot to meet pain with both gratitude and gentleness.

I've spent about that amount of time trying to tell the public that there was purpose in... my business, my career and the roller coaster ride... how the people I associated with worked together.

You're not going to do something for a certain period of your life and be affected by it, and then stop and go work in a grocery store. You understand certain things and your personality changes.

It was extremely hard going from being a parent of one to a parent of three, because now all these instant decisions have to be made about how you balance out the time and attention between them.

Share This Page