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I think in the early part of my career, the roles were so disparate that it never gave anybody an opportunity to understand my essence and what I would be good at doing, as opposed to what I would not be good at doing, so these little moments of beautiful things that were happening to me were consistent, but very few and very far between.

I loved playing a dramatic role. There's a side of me a lot of people don't know, and when I do dramatic roles, it just all comes out.

My first big role was when I was 17 and I got the part playing Maria in 'West Side Story' in my school production.

Really, I was such a late bloomer, I really didn't learn how to be me until I was in my late '40s, which is when I started playing roles that were closer to me.

For most of my career, I've played roles that were written for other actresses.

I was in Woody Allen's Stardust Memories in 1980. It was only a bit part and I didn't get to speak but I felt that I was in a real movie and heading where I had always wanted to be.

I turned down as many roles that I thought were beyond my abilities as I did ones I thought weren't good enough.

Not one role that I've played has been written specifically for me.

When I started, I was a theater actress, and there were roles that I couldn't imagine not playing, like Rosalind in 'As You Like It.' I used to think I would die if I could play that. But then I started doing movies, and I had children, and I moved to Los Angeles. And now I kind of can't remember what those roles would be.