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What she said...
...about being normal - I wouldn't say I'm normal. But I'm relatively stable. When I think of normal, I think of mediocrity, and mediocrity scares the f--- out of me. ...about getting the role of Lilly Bart - A couple years ago, after I did a movie called Playing by Heart, I was given by the cinematographer, Vilmos Zsigmond, as a wrap gift, a beautiful hardbound copy of The House of Mirth, the novel. It was just completely unexpected but much appreciated. The following year I was in London. I had four days there, taking no meetings. I just wanted to relax, and one of my agents called. I'm in a cab, and he's talking to me about meetings, and I said, "Look. Please, no. I'm not taking any." He said, "Well, there's this one, this obscure director. You'll never have heard of him. His name is Terence Davies." I had been a fan of Terence's work [Distant Voices, Still Lives]. There was one film, in particular, The Long Day Closes. Aspects of it moved me to tears at the time. There was just something about the emotion in his camera work that really affected me. So hearing my agent mention his name, I said, "Sure. I'll meet with him." And then he said that it was for The House of Mirth. It was so weird. So we set up this meeting at the Covent Garden Hotel, and I sat in this funny little library with him and the executive producer, Olivia Stewart. It was just this meeting. I mean, I can't tell you how many meetings I've had. Meetings are a dime a dozen. And then Terence flew out to Los Angeles because he was interested based on that meeting. We met in a hotel room at Shutters, and I read with him for the role. And between the time that I had this meeting with him in London and the time that I met in Los Angeles, of course, I had read the script and was very strongly affected by it, and the thought of him doing this project was very attractive to me. I didn't realize, at that time, that he hated flying. He never flew, and yet he was coming over to Los Angeles. And this was something that he had been working on for years. I wasn't sensitive to any of that. Here I was, just reading for a director I had a great deal of respect for, but I didn't know that this was what would get me the role. So many times you read, and then a week later you hear about it. Basically, we read together for this, and at the end of the meeting Terence says, [in a very proper British accent] "Would you like to play Lily Bart?" [She giggles]. I said, "Yes. I would love to," and I was honored. ...about writing and directing 'all things' - It was an amazing experience. I didn't realize how much I was going to enjoy it. It was a process of doing something that you've never done before, that you are both exhilarated by and terrified by at the same time. Jumping in and figuring out how to write an episode, how to construct a script, knowing exactly what to shoot and trying to do all that while shooting 14-hour days on the other side of the camera. I got a lot of support from the producers and the cast. The creative process appealed to me very much because I'm a detail-oriented person. I like lists. I like crossing things off on lists. I like crossing my t's and dotting my i's. It was absolutely exhilarating. ...about Scully as a role model - I think certainly that the role of Scully changed the role of women in television. I think Chris Carter's writing this character has made sweeping changes in the face of television over the past seven years. It's extraordinary that young girls can look up to a character who is smart and brainy and can stand up for herself. She's very independent. Personally, I live in a very different world than my character. I know I don't pretend to be something I'm not, but I don't know if I'm an example of a modern woman. ...about life - But at the same time, it's always important to take any response about anything with a grain of salt and respond to things in life the same way, whether it's a happy response or not so happy response. Life is much easier on a more even keel that way. ...about David - On the other hand, David is not here and there was something that we shared as actors and as human beings and as characters that cannot be reproduced. Not like anybody is trying to reproduce it, but it's just not the same. There was an energy that was between us that was very powerful and very profound, and I miss that. Scully misses that. ...about Piper - She is my number one priority and it may be that sometimes my interest in keeping her world as level and sane as possible may get in the way of future projects, and it may not. I may be able to work stuff out but it's something every parent has to deal with. I think actors in general, for the most part, try very hard to consider the children and to juggle as effectively as possible. It's a little more complicated in this particular situation [being a single mother] but it's all workable. And she's incredibly resilient and she loves traveling and she's very patient. I love her very much so I'm going to try and make it as easy on her as possible. ...about why she is not reading reviews on the net - That's one reason I don't participate, because it's very personal stuff and in terms of the character I don't want to be influenced too much by people's opinions. I have to stick very closely as to how I feel how the character needs to be portrayed from episode to episode. ...about Scully's dialogue - Sometimes it's very hard to say this stuff and make it sound like I know what I'm talking about, because I don't. There's always a level at which I'm lost. It's fascinating, I can't tell you how much I hold in my brain after the scene ... I probably forget everything that I supposedly learned. But I have a great deal of respect for someone who has to keep that stuff in their brain to use on a daily basis. --- At one point I was very interested in biology. Before I got interested in acting I was interested in marine biology a lot. ...about the fans - Well a lot of fans already know how I feel about them but it's been extraordinary to have such a huge fan - devoted fan - base from the very beginning of the show and there have been a lot of people that have stuck with us and even for the people that haven't, you know, it's just that they did at all was amazing and it's just been the greatest support that we've gotten and I hope we have done you proud.
- I believe
from the bottom of my heart that there is nothing we as human beings,
and especially we as women cannot tackle. It is not a matter of being
fearless. The fear is sometimes constant but it's about moving forward
regardless of the fear. Courage means feeling the fear and doing it anyway."
-
from one of the QOTM: I hope everyone that is reading this, is having
a great day. And if not, remember that in every minute that passes by
you have an opportunity to change that. - Time passes
in moments. Moments which, rushing past us, define a path of a life... - With him,
(Clyde) Piper gets to feel grounded, she has all his fmaily around. And
with me she gets to see the world. - This moment
is all we have and we will never have now again. - You just
have to throw caution to the wind and just trust everything is going to
end up okay. You have to go in fearless. - Just remember,
you can do anything you set your mind to, but it takes action, perseverance,
and facing your fears.
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