Acting is pretty much my whole life.

I don't feel that I have any great grasp of technique that I should pass along to people.

That's when the great stuff happens, when you're not checking yourself all the time, being critical of yourself and what other people are doing.

People who are interested in the arts and theater are such a minority.

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 don't put together cars, I put together people.

I know I'll work, but not when or where. I never know what to pack.

The Oscar nomination made me a recognizable name to other actors and people in general.

I don't like that I'm my own commodity, that I am what I sell.

Work is the most nourishing thing so far in my life.

I have fun at work.

I make my relationships at work.

I only eat things that you don't have to kill.

There is no restaurant anywhere in the world where I have been that I haven't been able to find something to eat.

Sometimes every single element of a character is a torturous discovery.

I didn't decide to be a character actress.

It's totally mystifying to me how anyone could have canceled 'Taxi.' I don't understand it because that stuff is rare.

I was this extremely dramatic actress. And then, suddenly, I was doing comedy.

'Taxi' made a big difference because it got me into comedy.

When you're doing a legitimate play, if you have a company of 12, it's considered a big cast.

I don't like to discuss my work in a lot of detail; I'm afraid of dissecting it in a way that is not good for me.

This is a grueling profession. Either you can't get work, or you can't get certain kinds of parts, or you get a part, and it kills you because it's not good enough, or you get successful and feel guilty about it.

There are directors who don't cast you for the way you act but for the way you are, the way you behave around the dinner table.

My first movie was with Mike Nichols.

If they give you good words to say, and you don't get in the way of them, you'll be OK.

I know that I'm in the minority to be able to keep working all these years. But I want more!

I want to be Geraldine Page; I want to be one of the greats.

I started acting young, and I was a dramatic actress.

I like the full spectrum of roles.

It's like life: you have both comedy and drama. There's a balance, and I'm lucky enough to have it in my work.

I think it's nourishing to do both comedy and drama.

Life is very cyclical. And my career has been very-high-very-low, very-high-very-low, and I think it'll probably keep on rolling that way.

For very few people is there a time when you, quote unquote, make it.

I happen to think I look best in black.

As I get older, I start to look back at the field that I've crossed and realize that it was a mine field.

This profession has no rhythm to it - you're either busy enough to fall down, or nothing's happening!

I've been lucky in my career. I've worked with some of the greatest filmmakers and actors around. I'm so proud of some of my work.

'Hester Street' was my most complete character study, but 'Annie Hall' and 'The Last Detail' were also great.

All of my films have changed my life. I've met so many people and broadened my world view.

I try to construct some kind of backstory for my character so that I have an idea of the life of that character - not just from the moment when the scene starts, but from before.

If I had the science and math capabilities, I would have liked to be a vet, but I don't! I don't have those capabilities.

'Hester Street' was an incredible opportunity for me. That script was such an incredible script.

For me, the most important thing is the writing - and certainly the director. But if the writing isn't there, it doesn't matter who the director is!

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.

In my job, I worry a lot and try and stay calm and open. It sometimes works.

In high school, I did the 'The Tempest' at Lincoln Center for Joe Papp.

I am a very simple cook, I just do the minimum amount. I'm mostly a vegetarian, so I just steam a lot of vegetables.

When I had my dogs, I used to spend a lot of time in Central Park, which is a great place to be alone among a lot of people.

If I had not made strategic choices, I would have had far more access to dramatic roles. But the one thing I don't regret, even about bad choices, is that there's always something you can get out of it.

I don't regret what I've done but some of the things I didn't do.