At Cornell, my acting teacher said you cannot be religious and be an artist. I sort of got it, because faith is a comfort and art comes from a lot of places, in a lot of people, from the dark chasm.

Summer is when I forget I'm an art teacher and remember I'm an artist

There's a oneness to showing yourself to an audience. They feel that. It's healthy. That's what acting is all about.

One of the reasons you take a role is because it's something you always wanted to do, from going to the movies as a kid. I always wanted to do a 1950s movie, for example. And I got a chance to be in 'Peggy Sue Got Married.' I would have taken only one line of dialogue to be in that.

I’m an artist; I do not destroy, but create scars. And above that, I am an inventor of new ways to create them.

Before we took down the tree each year, Dad would always say a prayer that we would be together the next Christmas. I cling to that prayer, which serves as a reminder that it's important to be grateful in the present for the people you love because, well, you never know.