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.
I think because I am as earnest as I am, people were accepting of my evolving into a certified, legitimate, and grown up and I did take three years off.
My first offer was when I was 12, and it was for a soap opera. And I turned it down because I knew that I was an unformed actor, and I didn’t want to develop bad habits.
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.
If I hadn’t been an actress, I was thinking seriously about going into psychology. It’s just really what I’m interested in: the human psyche and how we process information.
I’m so impressed by Jennifer Lawrence and Carey Mulligan. They have this exquisite taste. They are very gifted in their ability to make great choices.
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.
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.
I was a pretty nerdy kid. I was pretty nerdy. I’m still kind of nerdy. I have all of the worst qualities of being a nerd – all of the affect and none of the smarts. I’m a useless nerd! That’s pretty bad.
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.
I started working when I was very young. I got an agent when I was 12, and fortunately was employed consistently from that point on. So I didn’t really go to a conventional high school. I was tutored on sets and things.
I like reading novels because it provides insight into human behavior. I am really interested in feelings and think they are what define us as a species. 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.
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 would sign on for projects that were meant to shoot in July, and then they would postponed and they would bleed into the following semester, and then I’d take a semester off, and then the movie would collapse.
With acting there are a lot more choices, With this, I either stick it or I don’t. There’s something really unforgiving about that.
In a way, that’s really reassuring. I’m not just a very limited person to not have figured it out at this point. But it’s also intimidating. Well, how long is it going to take before you can have a good time?
You are the most brave intrepid person I have ever known, and you have dedicated your life to helping those who are misunderstood and underrepresented.
I should be so lucky to be a misfit. I aspire to be a misfit.
I have this home in New York, I have a long-term relationship with my boyfriend, who’s from Australia, and I had this business that I had maintain. Even though I wasn’t actively shooting, there’s a lot of peripheral work.
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.
I have to say that my dad’s face is very malleable. He’s barely got any cartilage in his face. I think I maybe inherited that Play-Doh-like physicality from him.