I did sing in a choir for a while, but if anybody was sick, I always whispered my songs to make sure nobody could pick out my voice.

I have never been able to sing in the shower, much less in front of anybody.

I am lucky enough not to have to take jobs unless I love the material.

I don't know how I could plan my career.

I have never had any success in planning my life, really.

I think that we need to look hard at our beliefs and be responsible about how we speak out.

I was this person with this weird last name from New York that no one had ever heard of. But my screen test I guess, according to him, was the best. So I got the part, which was incredible.

It was a few days later I came out to Hollywood for a screen test, and so did a lot of other people. So, I really didn't think I would get it. I was definitely the one that was least likely to get it, because everyone else was an already established star.

There's just such a premium on hurrying, and the camera is the be all and end all, and the actors had better hurry up and get it right and get it done.

I helped found Artists for New South Africa, but it used to be called Artists for Free South Africa. Alfre Woodard and a bunch of us started this.

I'd already made the decision before I'd even read it-just because it was John Sayles. Then when I read it, the themes were actually themes that have been a big part of my life.

It's usually, my people speak to your people and then they speak around each other and trade calls for weeks.

Anything to do with the South resonates with me, because I'm Southern.

I want women, especially young women, to create a world where your success is not based on being young.

I had a sense of mortality since I was a little girl, which has to do with my father, who nearly died eight times in my childhood. He had eight heart attacks.

I know that's why I became an actress. In my dream world, I could get mad and scream and yell, and if somebody died, they got up again. In real life, I didn't dare try it.

I studied with Sandy Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse. I was in the last class to study with him before he had his larynx removed, so I actually remember the sound of his voice. He was an incredible teacher.

The part in 'Philadelphia' where I represent the law firm that's firing Tom Hanks, that was a hard part for me because I lost one of my best friends to AIDS, and it was hard for me to play a part that wasn't sympathetic to someone with AIDS.

Whenever we start a new TV series, there's also a lot of question marks, and part of that is finding who you are.

I know this is kind of corny, but we thought about renewing our vows again because I think my mom would really love it if we did that in Arkansas, where I came from.

'Last Man On Earth,' I have to say, is a love for me. I mean, a true passion. To people who haven't watched it or who've watched a little and thought, 'Ah, I don't know where this is going,' or whatever, I urge them to check it out again.

Christopher Lloyd was actually the first person - or certainly one of the first few - who ever spoke to me on film.

My heritage, many generations back, is Dutch and it was fun to go where nobody asked me how to pronounce my name.

My family didn't have money to travel, so reading was how I knew about the world. It made me hungry to have more experiences than just what I could possibly experience in Arkansas.