I just don't see very many films. Because I make them.
Having a career is a bit like navigating an Atlantic crossing - you have to make sure everything is keeping and is balanced.
I think I'm inspired mostly by other artists that aren't actors, like writers or singers or artists, for being so brave.
I don't want to have to be pretty. I don't want to have to be adorable.
Now, playing a love interest can be really thrilling, if you're working opposite thrilling people.
It doesn't make you feel very good being mean and fierce; it is much nicer playing people who are kind and sweet.
Exoticism can give you an edge: it makes people assume you're cleverer than you are and gives you the upper hand.
'The English Patient' was a huge turning point in my career and my life; it became this huge thing. But the whole Oscar build-up got completely out of control; I spent more time talking about that film than I spent making it!
I'm very good at forgetting people.
I'm a late developer.
When I speak English, I've been told, I have this patrician way of speaking that's very irritating. It's the whole class thing.
My children are lovely. They're perfect.
Films are just consumables.
You don't choose a film because it's made by a woman, you choose it because it's good.
The Cannes film festival is about big-budget films but also remarkable films made in different political regimes by film-makers with little resources.
As actors, we're always asked to portray and react to these extreme circumstances, otherwise it's not interesting. They are agonizing things to think about.
