Comedy is a way to make sense of chaos. It's a way of dealing with things that are overwhelming, that threaten you; it's a way to survive and get closer to the truth.

Collaboration. ... For me, it has informed every move I've ever made. And it saved me in many ways and still does. When things get hard, you can cling to the work.

My family is from the South, and I can remember all those ladies I grew up with, like my great-aunts, who had handkerchiefs. There's something sweet about them.

I love actors, regardless of where they are in their skill level. There's something terribly satisfying about working with someone who's really learning.

What I find so interesting about people is the choices they make, and how that effects their behavior, their sense of self and their relationships.

I don't want to spend my life in my 40s feeling bad about being in my 40s, and then all of a sudden I'm 50, and I will have missed a whole decade!

I am very lucky, because for the most part people are very nice to me, and I am still able to go about my life and ride the subway and all that.

The basic laws of good acting are the same, but everything about the experience is different-your job responsibility, the time you spend on it.

My parents were divorced and I didn't grow up with my father, but I spent a lot of time around him, and his influence on me has been profound.

The thing about death is that it's honest. I go to things that have a core of honesty about them and there's nothing more honest than death.

Traits like humility, courage, and empathy are easily overlooked - but it's immensely important to find them in your closest relationships.

People can't really place me. They're not really sure who I am. Sometimes they think I'm Helen Hunt. Sometimes they think I'm Laura Dern.

I think everybody handles things very differently and you can conjecture, but until you're put in that situation, you really don't know.

When your life is being threatened there's an instinctive urge to fight. You fight for the time you have, for your relationships.

People's view of cancer will change when they have their own relationship with cancer, which everyone will, at some point.

I'm always curious, but I'm learning things I never thought I'd learn. I get to travel to places I never thought I'd go.

For me to have the opportunity to stay with one character for, God willing, a long period of time, is really exciting.

What I love about a play is that it's such an investment because only time can create a lot of what happens onstage.

I always laugh to myself when I listen to some really big A-list star saying that they are just a normal person.

At school I was always trying to con my teachers into letting me act out book reports instead of writing them.

Fame didn't happen to me in my 20s, it has been a gradual thing which probably makes it easier to deal with.

I grew up in Manhattan and, since my father was a playwright, all I ever wanted to be was a stage actress.

I could have gone to the gym for three hours a day and bought into all that, but I just wasn't interested.

I've always thought that I'm sexy in my own right, but not in a way that people thought was bankable.

I'm not someone who likes to have my picture taken, let alone see it plastered all over the place.

I tend to make low-budget movies but, yeah, I make more money than I ever thought I would make.

You know when someone's over-flattering you in a way. You smile but you can't believe it.

I had learning disabilities, and I couldn't express myself in the written word.

Fear, anxiety and neurosis: that's just in the suitcase when you're an actor.

I don't mind aging. I mean, my whole thing is, it's just a privilege to age.

Some people's personalities are so compelling that they command attention.

I'm very hard on my bags because I tend to carry a lot of stuff with me.

I don't consider myself a celebrity, and I don't consider myself a star.

My parents were divorced and I would spend weekends with my father.

I hope that anyone I worked with wouldn't exploit our relationship.

A magnetic personality doesn't necessarily indicate a good heart.

Tanning is tricky, because a lot of people just look orange.

The goal seems to me at times just to be business first.

That's my favorite food group: donut. I love the donut.

The entertainment industry is terrified of silence.

I don't think you should exploit your own pain.

I grew up in Manhattan on the Upper East Side.

I crave a cone of silence every once in while.

I get cold - really cold - when I travel.

Cancer is so much bigger than a TV show.

I love working closely with people.

To be too knowing is a downfall.

I certainly didn't have a nanny.

Doing the right thing has power.

Courtroom dramas can be boring.