I never played the 'decoration,' I always played the one who suffered. And then I got very lucky in my middle career, when I started playing the hero, which at that point was quite rare for women.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I was never built to play the hero. Physically or emotionally... And they're not as rewarding to play. At least for me.
I certainly have played women who have a pioneer spirit and longing for adventure.
Charm, in most men and nearly all women, is a decoration.
I haven't played a lot of wallflowers but I have played women who have been vulnerable.
There was definitely a moment, a time after 'The Hand That Rocks the Cradle', when I did get offered a lot of women in jeopardy-type roles. But I couldn't do it, physically, I just couldn't. But now I know what I know, I wonder if I should have played the whole fame game a little more.
I've been very lucky with the roles that I've played in that they were wonderful roles for women. They're incredible, flawed characters that I really gravitate toward. I just never want anybody to be able to put me in a box.
I've been involved in one or two successes in classical plays but nothing to touch the excitement and the glamour and the gratification of being a children's hero for so long.
When I was in my early twenties, I hoped one day to own a Victoria Cross, the ultimate decoration in Britain and the Commonwealth for bravery in the face of the enemy.
Make no mistake: I love women. I'm married to one, I was birthed by one, and I played one in my high school production of 'Romeo and Juliet.' No one else could fit into the bodice.
I've played women since I was a kid and I've always enjoyed it.