Blythe Danner

“Onstage or in films, you do affect peoples' lives, and sometimes that's very gratifying. But still, there's this little voice that says you should be doing something that matters.”

“That's what's so wonderful about being in this business because you're constantly surprised. You have to be up for anything.”

“I think I have a lot of crazy layers.”

“I loved the first Christmas I had in England.”

“I don't give my advice unless it's asked for.”

“I was raised in a time where children were still seen and not heard basically, so I think a lot of us in my generation went the other way and just tried to be as much more liberal and open and we're still paying for it.”

“It was in high school that I first became interested in acting. We put on lots of plays.”

“Being a grandmother is probably the most important thing to me. I have two really rambunctious little ones, and I love spending time with them.”

“I've always had a middling kind of a career, not great highs and great lows.”

“You learn more discipline in the theatre than you do in movies or TV. You're on stage every night and you have to sustain your energy level tor several hours.”

“My feeling is that if there are that many billions of stars, maybe someone is saying exactly what I'm saying at this moment. I don't know. It's not something I'm obsessed by or think about all the time, but I certainly open to thinking it could be.”

“I got to Broadway a year after I came to New York. I starred in 'Butterflies Are Free' and got a Tony for it. Right out of the gate. Maybe that's why I wasn't very gracious about it. I wasn't driven. And right after 'Butterflies Are Free', I got married and then started a family. I always wanted that.”

“Acting is really only part of my life. I'm addicted to it.”

“I am always happiest in an ensemble.”

“Actors are very generous.”

“I travel so much when I work, I've really been happy to do 'Nice Work' because I feel like a true New Yorker again. I have my little regimen during the day, and I can take advantage of the museums and the things that I love. And people watching!”

“You cannot be the perfect wife, the perfect mother, and the perfect actor all at the same time.”

“I've always just adored music. It's my first love, really. I admire and respect people in the music business. You really have to work hard and diligently. Sometimes actors can be lazy and get away with it, but you can't do that if you're a musician.”

“My husband was very special and very funny and outspoken, and he would have a black and blue every so often because under the table, I'd say, 'Don't say that!'”

“Just look at my face. Its an extraordinary experience. All of my friends who are grandparents have been saying, just wait, a bit cynically, but its just extraordinary. You feel like a child again yourself. Just walking on air.”