Mary Steenburgen

“New York had this wild beat that anybody could dance to. It was very nurturing to young people.”

“When you spend three months of your life doing a movie, it's important to enjoy yourself.”

“The part in 'Philadelphia' where I represent the law firm that's firing Tom Hanks, that was a hard part for me because I lost one of my best friends to AIDS, and it was hard for me to play a part that wasn't sympathetic to someone with AIDS.”

“We tell our kids to try for what they want. We cheer them on. But at some point, we stop doing this for ourselves. We shouldn't be so quick to close doors.”

“Anything to do with the South resonates with me, because I'm Southern.”

“1977 is the year I made my first movie. Shortly after, I was offered quite nice roles in television. The general consensus among everyone was that I'd be out of my mind to do that.”

“I don't know how I could plan my career.”

“I have hundreds of songs.”

“We're all very fond of a black box in our living room that works on diminishment of images, that spoons somebody up in a very limited way. It can be a reduction at its worst.”

“I've found that most people who studied when they were little, even if they never took another tap class, it's percussive, so it stays in your body, the muscle memory of it.”

“I've done little things, including Botox, but it didn't feel right for me.”

“I'm not a great horse person, but I love horses, and I love all of it. The sights and sounds and smells, the whole genre of Westerns - I love them.”