It's a funny thing about being raised Catholic and then going to Catholic schools with nuns - the cliche about the mean nun was not what I had at all. They were very, very smart, devoted individuals.
When I think of those in the 'far right' or those who are pro-life to the extreme and at all costs protect the unborn, the thing that enrages me is you want to ask every one of them, 'How many foster children are in your home now?'
I was the second oldest of seven children, and chores were a way of life for us. If your task wasn't completed, you were called right back to finish it.
My parents were strict but loving.
All I ever wanted was a successful career as an actress.
I look at all these wonderful actors who are out of work, and I don't know what accounts for my good fortune, but I'm grateful for it.
I think women are used to stepping up and getting the job done when you need to.
Sit with silence a lot - real silence, where nothing is happening - because you learn so much in those moments of quiet.
Anything or anyone that limits the dream you have for yourself and for your career is just to be dismissed. Do not keep that company, and do not hear those words.
I have a family and children I adore and a husband who's wonderful.
I had been a premed student, and the way you got through premed was to work extremely hard and then harder.
I think the theater is where you stand up, and you say, 'Here is what I have to offer.'
Forgiveness, in some cases, is a flipping miracle in the sense that you're fighting, and suddenly something happens. It's a kind of grace. Whether you believe in God or not, something happens, and it's transformative.
The first time I read 'Leftovers,' I didn't get it at all.
My father, John, ran the Dowd Insurance Co. in town, which was started by his great-grandfather. My mother, Dolores, was a homemaker who kept an eye on all of us.
It's a question of dropping the armor and getting up and doing the work you want to do. And film at first is frightening because you are like, 'What's that camera doing?' But then it becomes family and therefore a really wonderful experience.
When I won the Emmy, the profound sense of gratitude when my name was said I cannot express enough. It was one of the most beautiful moments, hands down, of my life.
I remember, as a young Catholic girl in high school, seeing 'The Exorcist,' and it scared the wits out of me.
I was so grateful to win an Emmy, but just being nominated, it's not overrated!
The first 10 years of my education were spent at a Catholic school in Springfield, Mass.
