Mamie Gummer

“I play-acted and started performing, which just logically led to doing it in school, which led to studying it in college, which led to auditioning to the showcase in New York. And then I had an agent, and I was an actress.”

“A lot of the scripts I read and the characters I get are 'the girl' in romantic films, and I don't know how comfortable I am, or the world is, with me being that.”

“L.A. is... I always feel sort of abducted when I'm there, like I've stepped onto another planet where everyone looks the same.”

“I love the energy of an independent film set. No one is there for the money. Everyone is there 'cause they really want to be there. It makes all the difference in the world. It's without ego and agenda, other than just wanting to fulfill a creative dream.”

“I went through so many phases because I moved schools a lot. I grew up primarily in Connecticut, but also here in L.A. for five years.”

“I watched a lot of old television growing up - a lot of Nick at Nite. I watched 'Rhoda', 'Mary Tyler Moore', and 'I Love Lucy.' Growing up, I loved 'My So Called Life' and was devastated when that went off the air.”

“I don't think I'm ever really going to run the risk of disappearing into a Marvel franchise. I just don't know how I would fit into a catsuit.”

“My favorite charity is the Women's Refugee Commission and the Nomi network.”

“My eyes are too small, and they're too close together, and I have a pointy nose. But who cares? Who cares?!”

“I feel like I'm a secondary artist, a kind of a conduit for the writer, and if it's a good writer, then I have a great road map.”

“I have roles in plays that I hope that I'll be able to do one day. I might be doing them at, like, the East Wilton Playhouse in wherever. But I think that Edie Falco... to get something even resembling her type of roles, that would be amazing.”

“All I really want to do is plays - and that's a New York thing.”

“I was an optimistic person, really bossy, gregarious and outspoken.”

“I know girlfriends of mine who, when they were approaching pregnancy and starting a family, consistently went through a period right beforehand that was a last gasp kind of thing where they just wreak havoc. They fall apart, in a profound way, because there's some awareness that that's the last time they can do that for awhile.”

“I've kind of blocked it out, but a good friend affectionately reminded me that yes, I was a dork. I was not a cool kid in high school.”

“I like how steady the work in television is. Films, they're hard to come by. They're elusive. I've done a couple, independently financed. You do them, and maybe a few people will see them.”

“All the women that are first born daughters in my family are named Mary, but we've all been given nicknames. I don't know how or why that started, but I'm nicknamed after my great-grandmother, who was Mamie. No one ever calls me Mary, except only if my husband is very serious about something.”

“I was a theater major at Northwestern University and won a role in a play called 'Mr. Marmalade' after I graduated.”

“If I do have kids, I can't wait because I'm excited to go back to school to help them with their homework and remember how to do simple math. I think it's about staying curious and not losing the sense of wonder.”

“I like the Dodgers because my dad does - wait, no, not the Dodgers. Strike me down! The Yankees. I like the Yankees.”