Growing up in New York with artist parents - a very liberal environment, where we were always encouraged to challenge the status quo - I think for a long time I confused jingoism with patriotism. And that is a mistake.

Psychology and acting are very closely linked. It's just about studying people and how they work. It can be an incredible discipline and exercise.

On a film you can really get away with learning the scene the night before and that's often just not possible with TV, so you have to be a little bit more prepared a little bit more in advance.

Steve Martin is one of my favorite performers, writers, artists of all time.

When you really get it right in acting, it's an act of empathy. You feel less distant from others, and that is really exciting.

I used to have nightmares when I was a little kid that I woke up prematurely and opened all the Christmas presents. And then I would be so relieved when I woke up and I realized that I hadn't done it.

Any story is better with a little love in it, right?

I think 'Breaking Bad' is incredible.

Voice over can be tricky. It can be dangerous because it's over-used or inappropriately used.

It just seems like the most successful, iconic love stories are not so easy or escapist. I think the ones that stay with us and resonate are full of conflict, discord and misunderstandings 'cause that's what makes drama happen or tension even if it's a comedy.

I think people who make movies and have invested a lot of money in them get frightened that if they challenge an audience they are going to repel them. And I think the opposite; it's really true.

I should be so lucky to be a misfit. I aspire to be a misfit.

I can get a dance party started pretty much anywhere and anytime.

Every three seconds in the developing world, a child dies needlessly due to lack of basic health care and other things we all take for granted.

You have to pick your battles on set.

You have to stay hydrated when you have crying scenes.

I think I would make a lousy stay-at-home mom. It just wouldn't suit me.

I am not a genius. But I am nerdy.

When I was a kid, I was one of those really obnoxious 'oooh oooh' girls, with my hand up in the air constantly. I've learned over the years that that's not so attractive, so I've censored that.

It's funny with jeans now, because if they don't feel like a pair of sweatpants, I don't have patience for them anymore! I think I'm becoming increasingly lazy.

I actually haven't been approached a whole lot for television, believe it or not.

People with bipolar disorder have difficulty with boundaries.

Counterterrorism isn't really about the nunchakus, the guns and gadgets. It's about psychology.

People in the CIA, they marry each other. They're like actors! We have to travel without much warning to far-flung places, and it's very hard to communicate what our experiences are like to those in the outside world.

I got an agent when I was 12, and I started working in more amateur productions well before that. But even as a kid, I never felt like a kid actor, you know? I always took myself kind of absurdly seriously.

I'm exceptionally open with my own parents, and they're exceptionally open with me.

There was a solid year and a half, perhaps two years, after making 'Temple Grandin,' when I didn't do anything. I just didn't have much patience for roles that were silly, or light, or inconsequential.

If you do something that you're not genuinely passionate about, it is a little soul-crushing. Just not worth it.

Actors want to surprise themselves. When it's really good, you kind of transcend yourself, and that happens infrequently. Very, very rarely.

I was very driven to act from a very young age, and my parents were not only tolerant of that drive but also encouraging.

In New York City, everybody goes into therapy.

I discovered Orson Welles in college; my freshman English professor screened 'Citizen Kane' for us, and I wound up writing a 20-page term paper on it.

The big question is always, 'Eyes or lips?' I tend to go with the eyes because I've got a lot more material to work with now - and it saves me from reapplying lipstick! I'm a pretty low-maintenance person and it's too excessive to exaggerate both the eyes and lips.

If I took my characters home with me, half of my life would be a misery, I think. No, I tend to compartmentalize work from my life. I'm not terribly method.

I particularly love Israel. I've had fantastic experiences there.

Narciso Rodriguez was my first fashion big brother. He made my wedding dress, which was wonderful.

I would rather not work than be a neurotic mess.

I fantasized about being a psychology major when I first started school, and I took a handful of Psych 101 classes.

College was just so essential for my sense of self and my development.

I have to expose myself and then accept the judgment that audiences and critics will have. And that's okay. I appreciate the elliptical nature of it. Sometimes people are more in the mood to be nice to me than others, and that's great.

Oliver Stone's strategy is to unnerve the actors so as to make them alert and alive.

I discovered Christopher Isherwood in college. His writing style is so direct, warm, and inclusive.

I've always very earnestly tried to do my best, so I just have to trust that and forgive myself for being fallible.

I could truly have gone through life thinking that women were these venomous creatures. Turns out, they're not.

I like marriage. I feel very secure. It helps when you are in love with the person you are married to.

It's very difficult to judge yourself. Extreme self-doubt is only attractive when it's fictionalized. Which is why people love the movies. They are so reassuring.

My parents never condescended to me. As a child, I always sat at the head of our dinner table. I was always given a lot of responsibility.

I was a very confident child. I knew I wanted to be an actress from the age of 5.

I'm just always learning lines. I've learned to flag the really crucial scenes, and I start figuring them out and committing them to memory as soon as I get them.

By the time I went to Yale, I'd been acting for a long time and I was really tired of it. I was restless - and a little bored - and I was really eager to investigate different parts of myself.