It's extremely difficult and very challenging to be a woman in film and television. Just showing up in this business forces you to know yourself. But I learned how to deal with rejection and get tough when I was working as a model - it taught me how to put myself out there. In a way, my time modelling was a preparation for life.
When I was a kid, I don't think I even knew what being gay was, and now it's just part of our culture. It's changing so rapidly right now. It's great.
I feel so lucky that I had so many opportunities.
When I do work, I choose to see every job as an opportunity to grow, as an actor and as a person. My favourite part of it is being part of a team, with everyone pulling in the same direction.
People tell you the world looks a certain way. Parents tell you how to think. Schools tell you how to think. TV. Religion. And then at a certain point, if you're lucky, you realize you can make up your own mind. Nobody sets the rules but you. You can design your own life.
When I did the first 'Matrix,' after it came out, I had a woman come up to me and just thank me for Trinity because she was an action writer. She said she was getting really good opportunities now.
I think everything happens at exactly the time it's supposed to.
I love storytelling. I love characters that are complicated and layered, real people, that you see why they do what they do.
I had my children, fell in love with mothering, yet couldn't find what I was looking for in terms of support or community. It felt isolating. I couldn't find 'my people.'
Every time I hear about a new show, and I see a show that is being created that is nothing like I've ever thought about, I just get so excited about that expansion. Because I started working when 'L.A. Law' was on. It was lawyers and cops.
As an actor, you really want to respect and honor the script. You want to try to be in the moment and you also realize that you're one part of a bigger picture and when they call action, you have your dance.
For me, the biggest thing is someone who's kind. I'm not into the bad-boy thing.
I think a lot of acting is having the confidence to be open enough to try things and not be afraid of falling on your face and looking like a fool.
I think you have to take each movie for its own value. There will be those you'll roll your eyes over and others you can't wait to see. It all has to do with the intention. If someone's intention is just to make money and exploit something for profit, then it's not good. If it's thoughtfully done, the proof's in the pudding.
After 'The Matrix,' I cannot wear sunglasses. As soon as I put them on, people recognize me.
When I was a kid, I didn't know Canadians could be actors. I thought just Americans could get acting jobs.
I think that Trinity's just the greatest character that I could ever play. I don't expect to ever play another woman that wonderful. I have a lot of Trinity in me, for sure.
Tell me that I can't do something, and I'll do it.
It's really hard to make a living as an actor. I'm grateful as I drive to work every morning.
I watched the entire 'House of Cards.' I couldn't stop watching it. I was staying up until 4 o'clock in the morning. I just couldn't stop... I'm crazy about Netflix. I'm excited that the world we live in is changing so much.
'Field of Dreams' made me realize that I wanted to live my dreams, to risk things for what I felt and what I dreamt of.
With scripts I've always looked at them and thought about kids, you know? Thought about the world and the impact... I won't do nudity and I never felt comfortable with that whole idea or things with huge sexual content - not my thing.
I have no major regrets. I've made the conscious decision not to look at life that way. I always try to learn something - to take something away from the situation.
I'm so damn lucky to make a living acting, but it's not that I love it, not all the time. If I couldn't act, I wouldn't die. I'm much more interested in the human aspect of life than the pretend.
When I was seven, my mom would come home every day, and I would have the phone book open to talent agencies, and I would have them highlighted.
Everyone has different issues, and I think for a great deal of women, those issues are self-esteem. And for me, I really wanted to understand it and get through it because I didn't want to be an actress afraid of getting older. I refuse to live that way.
I just know when I read something if it's something that I want to do.
I am thrilled to be on a Marvel Netflix show. I'm excited that we're getting to watch this kind of content... It's groundbreaking.
Eventually I want to be a full-time mother who works occasionally - and being an actor you have that freedom.
Self-care is so much more than a beauty regimen or an external thing you do. It has to start within your heart to know what you need to navigate your life. A pedicure doesn't last, but meditating every day does.
I want to feel creative when I'm working. I don't want to just work for the sake of working.
I just can't stand the sound of my voice sometimes, or how my face looks. There are always a few times at every premiere when I just have to cover my eyes when I'm up there.
One of the things that impacted me the most was in the 12th grade. I just assumed I would get the lead in the musical. Well, I didn't get it; I got the second lead, and I was devastated... my mom said something like, 'Often the supporting character is better.'
I don't have any huge desire to show you all that I'm not tough and strong, that I'm all feminine and soft. That's not a huge longing that I have because I know who I am.
Who could have imagined that a platform like - I'll use Netflix as a example - that it could be so good?
There is so much conflicting advice for mothers. Women finding out what works for them is the most important aspect. For me, being connected to myself helps me make decisions better to take care of my children.
I guess when you're carrying a film, you feel the weight of that because you're there every day, and you feel the weight of your character that way.
When I did 'Memento,' independent film was where all the really good stuff was.
I'm such a private person, and sexuality is such a private thing. A sex scene is much harder than a fight scene. It's one thing to say, 'Kick higher,' but 'Kiss harder' - that's just crazy.
I don't believe in being typecast. If I believed it, it probably would have happened to me. You attract what you make.
Are you gonna fuel your faith or fuel your fear? I'm all about fueling my faith, especially when it's hard to do so.
In TV, I did scripts that were not well-written, and I learned how to make bad material okay. That's a hard thing to do; you can learn bad habits, but you can also learn to find something in anything.
I'm a very simple person. I don't use computers.
That first year after a child, I kind of just hunker down at home - I surrender to that side of me. I don't try to get my body back or be in the world; I go the opposite way.
Not for one second do I not, like, pinch myself that I've had a successful acting career for 24 years. I am so grateful. But it's unfortunate that we live in a society that really puts a lot of pressure on women to look a certain way and to age a certain way. I think that sucks.
'Chocolat' was a joy to make, as we were filming in beautiful locations in France and England. Lasse Hallstrom is such an amazing director - overall it was a wonderful experience.
'Red Planet' was a tough movie to make, and I learned a lot about myself. To me, that's a lot more interesting than how a movie does.
Even though I thought of myself as soft and squishy, I always had this great will and focus and was just so driven.
The thing I love about music is that if a singer is good, let's say, you are instantly transported to that emotion. Acting is a more drawn-out process.
