Marcia Gay Harden

“Back in the days of Barbara Stanwyck and Bette Davis, beauty wasn't the be-all and end-all it is today.”

“I think to visualize failure as you're starting off is really a bad thing to do.”

“We can be incredibly disconnected in this day and age with computers and cell phones.”

“Reading is a joy for my kids, and to swing in a hammock on a lazy summer day reading a good book just goes with summer.”

“You're over there in the corner either thinking about the dead dog or whatever, you're bringing up your personal life and you need the space, and then somebody throws you a joke. Especially if it's an emotional scene, you don't want the joke.”

“In theater, you have a rehearsal period and you know just who to be.”

“There are certainly a billion, ker-trillion girls out there more attractive than I am.”

“In 2005, I had the great honor of playing Shailene Woodley's mother in 'Felicity: An American Girl Adventure.' I was immediately impressed by her work ethic, both on and off set.”

“In the theater, it's about taking time in a musical segment, a pause in a musical way and then moving on.”

“Working on 'King Of Texas' was a life experience for me.”

“A New York casting director, who shall remain nameless, once said to me, 'Marcia, you have what I call the flaring-nostril look, and until you get something done about it, you will never, ever work.'”

“I love it when ugliness is beautiful. I love character flaws.”

“I'm always a little starstruck anyway. So to work with a movie star, which is Brad, I was excited about that; to work with a movie legend, which is Tony, I wouldn't have passed that up. Just to get to watch him and watch how he works.”

“I was always the child who wore her emotions on her sleeve.”

“I don't think any extremism is rational.”

“In Hollywood, a lot of acting feels like grandstanding.”

“It's important that kids learn, but I really don't like all the testing, testing, testing.”

“It's very hypocritical to constantly say, 'We want to keep our kids close,' then send them home with so much homework that family time becomes nonexistent.”

“You've got to understand what makes the character human.”

“The trophy wife must be in her 20s to earn the title 'trophy wife.'”