I want collaboration, but if they don't have a plan or their vision isn't clear, it's nerve-wracking. So, someone that's very sure of the vision is what you want, most of all.

I think when a man sees a woman who knows what she wants it can be scary, but it can also be tempting.

Rodrigo Garcia is a brilliant writer. He just loves women. It is evident. When you are in the presence of him you can just tell he has a terrific understanding of women. He has two daughters, and he loves his wife.

Directors are our teachers, and I'm always craving to work with a great director. They're pretty much the first thing that interests me about a project.

I think in my 20s I was just all about having fun.

I feel like personally I have more drive now than I did then probably because I care more and also because I've reached the mid-life point.

I think whether you've got children or not you're just more aware of others as you get out of your 20s.

I think every time you take on a new role, you're trying to help find that voice and you add your own bits and pieces along the way but with Noah [Baumbach] it's already done.

I was going on years and years of auditions and being told I was too this, too that, not enough of this, not enough of that, to the point where I was so afraid and diluting myself into absolutely nothing...

You're always nervous about how a film lands with an audience.

Female roles in comedies are usually quite silly, I think.

It seems like a lot when you have three movies back to back but that's not really how it is.

It's always nerve-racking to take off your clothes on film. But doing it with a woman felt safer than with a man. You know you can say, 'Don't grab me there: That's where my cellulite is'!

Liev cares about a lot things. Israel is one of them. We had the good fortune of going there a couple of years ago. To share that experience with him was a great pleasure.

I go to a dance class myself called BBS - Body By Simone - its little mini dance routines and I am often the oldest person in the room although I forget that. I'm fairly fit.

I love being outside with trees and water, lying down somewhere or walking. I do transcendental meditation, which keeps me calm and steady.

I don't think of myself as a terribly confident person. But I have a survival mechanism that was instilled in me by my mother.

You won't find me in a romantic comedy. Those movies don't speak to me. People don't come to talk to me about those scripts, because they probably think I'm this dark, twisted, miserable person.

I felt I grew up when I was about 28. I feel pretty much the same. I get reminded when I look in mirrors that I am not. Hopefully, you keep growing and keep planning things as you go along.

I have a bit of a frustrated dancer in me.

If I have to produce movies, direct movies, whatever to change the way Hollywood treats older women, I'll do it. If I have to bend the rules, I will. If I have to break them, I will.

We're all the same, we all think its better somewhere else; its better being older if you're younger - or its better being younger when we're older.

I meditate. I do transcendental meditation and I have been doing that for a long time and that does just clear the mind. I am not religious at all.

Oh, I'm definitely a wild child.

When I had dark hair I definitely felt that I was more anonymous.

Some movies are the kind you take home with you at the end of the day, and some, you can let go.

Hotels are temporary people storage, no matter how big the boxes are. Remember that.

I love the energy and the knowledge. I barely know how to use this thing [mobile phone]. I get by.

The use of violence in movies is a subject that's worth addressing. I'm not standing on a soapbox or wagging a finger, but I'm interested in those subjects for sure.

Noah Baumbach writing is really wonderful. I think the way he plays out each character with a unique voice is really impressive, and rhythmically his dialogue works.

I think film is a director's medium and the good filmmakers that I like tell the darker stories. Therefore, I'm always inclined to follow people like David Cronenberg.

I'm not happy unless I've got a little bit of fear going.

Nicole was always there with her door open, her arms open, her ears open - just what you need.

We're so afraid of death in our culture, but I think if we understand it better, then we'll appreciate the life we have more.

I had gotten to a place where I truly believed everything I was called: 'not sexy,' 'not funny,' 'too intense,' desperate.' All those labels they gave me, I took them because there wasn't a trace of my true self left.

There's a set of rules out there somewhere that says it all ends by 40. I hope to be able to defy that because I truly love my work.

Pain is such an important thing in life. I think that as an artist you have to experience suffering.

I'm not this dark, twisted person. Yes, I have my demons and this is my way of exorcising them. It gets them out - and better out than in.

You have to make peace with yourself. The key is to find the harmony in what you have.

If we could just trust the moment that we're in and live it in the way that you best can embrace it, it would be much better for all of us.

There's a lot of skeletons in my closet, but I know what they're wearing. I'm not gonna act all ashamed of it.

I always love being in the company of women. It's all about good conversation and great wine.

The thing that I love about acting is the fact that I can help people feel things, know themselves or feel less alone. It's my form of expression, in the same way that someone might paint a picture or sing a song in that you're hoping that it moves somebody outside of their own way of thinking.

That's one of the lucky things about getting the success later on. I know how I want to dress, I know what kind of house I want to live in, I just know more about myself, and that's true about the roles I want to play and what parts of myself I want to express. You're just more in touch with yourself.

Since I had children I have taken huge amounts of time off. In a way it's a really good thing, in this show business especially, to have lots of private time, having lots of time to be in the world to observe people and read and take care of my kids helps me to come back into work with a thrill.

Never say never - and I certainly don't judge anyone who does it. But most of the characters I play are going through some kind of emotional turmoil, so my job requires me to have expression. If my face was froze, what right do I have to play that part? All the women who haven't done anything to their faces are still able to play great roles. And some of the ones who have done something have messed it up - they look freakish. Anyway, for me it's about playing women with rich lives - and the longer the life, the deeper the wrinkles.

In your 20s - and these are generalizations of course - I feel like I didn't care about as many things or as many people, or even myself, as much. There's more recklessness and more ruthlessness; you're not as considerate of how things land with other people I think.

At seventeen most people get their ears pierced or get a tattoo or something slightly taboo. That is what I love about Rodrigo Garcia, he's not conventional. He's someone who sees people in extraordinary ways, and forgives them for being such.

Sometimes they come to you and it's a small role, so it's about the experience and the journey and mixing with people you know you will learn from. Or sometimes it's a scene in a movie that you think, 'I just have to play this person.'

I got knockback after knockback at auditions. Just before ‘Mulholland Dr.’ my agent told me I was so intense I was freaking people out. She told me I was a brilliant actor but the feedback was that I made people feel uncomfortable because I was so nervous and intense. I just sat there and blubbed. My mum was staying in LA at the time and I went to her and said: ‘I just can’t do this. I’m not cut out for it.’ She just said: ‘Don’t believe a word people say about you. Forget them.’