Elisabeth Moss

“I heard that people were really interested in the new haircut, which I think is so funny. Great haircut, I really like it. It goes great with the time period. And I was super, super, super-happy to have my bangs swept to the side rather than straight in front of me, which I dealt with for three seasons. I'm very, very much done with that.”

“There's nothing like getting yourself into character and seeing a different person. It really wears on your vanity.”

“I like characters who have two different things going on, whether it is Robin from 'Top Of The Lake' having that strength juxtaposed with the vulnerability and being in pain, or whether it is Peggy from 'Mad Men' with her naivety and her sort of idiocy at times, combined with her intelligence and courage really to do what she did at that time.”

“I spent seven seasons on 'Mad Men,' playing what became considered a very feminist character.”

“I think my guideline has been to find things that inspire me. And as long as I stick to that, I don't think I'll have any problems crossing over to becoming an adult actress.”

“Ever since I was 15, when I did my first movie by myself, where my mom wasn't there and I had a guardian, I got to know the crew, and I got to be part of a group and a family. I love that part of it, the friendships that you make.”

“I love my work, but I do not think that I am saving the world... I am a Valley Girl.”

“To go from Girl, Interrupted, where I had to cry every day, to a TV show like West Wing where I get to laugh and joke around every day, has been a welcome relief.”

“I've always considered myself a feminist. But, like a lot of women of my generation, I didn't think we had to fight for it. I thought it was all done. I took so much for granted.”

“I think that people should absolutely be allowed to do whatever they want with their bodies and to live the life they want to lead.”

“Women know that we're not just strong. We're not just vulnerable. We are not just attractive or not attractive. We are many things at once, and we're able to see into that complexity.”

“Obviously, my life and my job in 2010 is very different from Peggy's experience in the 1960s. I exist in a world that enjoys more equality between men and women. But I don't take any of that into my performance. I just want to play the character as who she is as an individual - scene to scene.”

“I do want to be a mother. I like the idea of passing on what my mother passed on to me.”

“I was raised with a lot of classical music. I loved ballet. I was a bun head for 10 years.”

“Women need to be able to speak out if they are uncomfortable or something happened in the past that they were not comfortable with.”

“I auditioned for 'Mad Men.' I auditioned for 'Top of the Lake.' I obviously auditioned for 'West Wing,' so I still get excited when I get offered stuff. Like, a part of me thinks, 'They think I can do it! That's awesome!' And that's a part of me I have to squash; otherwise, I would do everything just because people gave it to me.”

“I've had to consciously try not to do all television and try to do films.”

“I fundamentally believe in freedom and human rights.”

“The great thing about Pete and Peggy's storyline is that you barely have to do anything. There's so much there, so much history, that you can have them exchange a look and it's so loaded. So you honestly don't have to do anything.”

“My earliest memories are at the Blue Note here in New York or backstage at different theatres or different clubs, dressing rooms.”