Jennifer Connelly

“I felt for a long time that this is what I want to do so I'm happy at this point to just take my time and work on projects that I feel strongly about, and the rest of the time just live my life.”

“I don't know if I was a star. I was certainly working a lot and that was strange because there were good things about it and things that were difficult.”

“Becoming a mother has made all the difference in terms of learning to take more responsibility for myself and my life. Parenthood changed the way I do everything.”

“The biggest thing for me is wanting my kids to grow up safely and have happy lives. To me, that's enough.”

“I do a little bit of minimal brow wrangling myself. I get the strays out of the way.”

“I don't want to put happiness off to the future, because you never know what life will bring.”

“It was, when I read it, I thought, such a beautiful script. I loved the story. I thought it was well handled. I thought it was even more moving because it was a true story and that made it even more poignant.”

“Growing up, being watched from the outside... it's kind of very taxing and maybe I should just do some kind of manual labor-it might be more relaxing. But I can't, it's not in my nature.”

“We live in downtown Manhattan and we have pretty big windows that looked right at the World Trade Center. I was home along with Kai and we watched it all happen. I was holding him in my arms and we were looking out the window when the second plane hit.”

“I almost moved into a place over a funeral parlor. My father said, 'That's just too macabre,' but I thought I'd be embracing my mortality. I told him it would keep me grounded - like when people get skull tattoos.”

“It's funny looking at yourself. You know how it is when you look back at old pictures? It's just funny looking back at yourself walking and talking at age 14.”

“You can't predict what someone else is going to do and when someone else is going to leave.”

“I try to stay focused on my life and do try not to be brought into the Hollywood fantasy.”

“I don't always like my own behavior. I haven't known anyone who is perfect all the time.”

“I'll probably at some point get involved in Instagram and things like that because I feel it's reality, and it's the way people communicate.”

“Everything changes as a mother. Yes, work has changed. The projects that I choose are even more important to me now. The world he's growing up in and the kind of stimulus that is out there; they are so precious and I'd do anything to protect him.”

“I had a good time working with Russell Crowe, Ron Howard and Ed Harris. It was a great cast and Russell worked really hard, doing tons of research and questioning everything.”

“I've chosen not to live in Hollywood, and instead I live in Brooklyn, New York. It's how I like to live. I'd rather hang out with my kids and family when I'm not working. Going to premieres is not my idea of a fun night out.”

“I pick different projects for different reasons. Usually, it's a combination of things. I admire the director, and I am interested in working with the director. Or, it's the cast. I can be moved by the story. The ideal situation is you love the director and you love the cast.”

“People who are incapable of having any kind of intimate relationship have to turn to feeling this incredible hunger and void, have to turn to some quantifiable external product to make them feel whole.”