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My parents were really, really cool about supporting what I wanted to do at a really young age. I think I was about 10 when I caught the bug. They would drive me down to New York if there were auditions. When I was 12, I did this show on Broadway called 'High Society,' so we moved to New York for the run of that.
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I actually love actresses who look like they feel really natural. I like Patricia Clarkson, Laura Linney, Frances McDormand. Those are actresses where the second they show up on screen you're like, oh my gosh, this movie just got so much better.
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I think a gentleman is someone who holds the comfort of other people above their own. The instinct to do that is inside every good man, I believe. The rules about opening doors and buying dinner and all of that other 'gentleman' stuff is a chess game, especially these days.
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People send you stuff if you say you're interested in something. I have a tonne of body lotion. So I could mention I was interested in, you know, surfing, and some company would send me a surfboard.
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The movie industry can be tricky and occasionally creepy, and I have this sense that the music industry is just shady as hell. I don't want to be a part of it.
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I rarely get recognised. It's always a shock when someone notices me. I always think they must be confusing me with someone else.
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To not be self-conscious of your appearance is huge, and something that I desperately hope to carry into film at some point in my useless life - to not be thinking, 'My ear looks weird from this angle, why is the camera over there?'
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As an actress, you're perpetually about to be unemployed. That fear - when you have two parents who worked 9-to-5 jobs and went through periods of being unemployed - is real. Those were not welcome times in my childhood.
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I'm glad I got to do 'The Last Five Years' and 'Into the Woods,' which are both shows that I just don't think I could have the stamina to do them eight times a week. I just have so much respect for the women who do these vocal roles eight times a week. They're so challenging.
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I hate when people think you're broken because your parents are divorced. And I really reject the idea of staying together for the kids. If they're growing up in a house that's not healthy, it's better to know that's not the model of what marriage should be.
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If I took myself too seriously, I would be a mess every day because the world keeps my ego in check.
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When you have no money in New York, you're living in a shoebox, and it's freezing. When you have no money in L.A., you're living in a slightly larger shoebox, and you can go outside and feel okay about your life for a minute.
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I used to exercise an hour every day - no excuses. I live in absolutes: I either exercise every day, or I let myself off the hook. I'm trying to find that balance of working out three or four days a week and sticking to it.
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The music for 'The Last Five Years' is like running a 26-mile marathon, and singing Sondheim is like ballroom-dancing up Everest.
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I never have used a trainer. I'm slightly intimidated by the idea of somebody in my face.
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I like figuring out where I need to be mentally so that I'm not thinking about the camera and that it's second nature. I want to get to a place where I can exist within the confines of what you can do with filmmaking and not have to think about it.
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I'm into 'The Walking Dead,' 'Shaun of the Dead,' obviously, and I've seen all the Romero movies. I am a classic zombie queen. And I love the White Walkers on 'Game of Thrones.' Weirdly, it wasn't until pretty late in life that I found my entry point into horror films.
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After we shot the first 'Twilight,' we organized our own wrap party. We really didn't know what this was going to be. Something like that can come at you unexpectedly, and you just have to try your best to deal with it.
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When I have a big enough handbag to carry a little pair of booties with, I always do - those pointy Christian Louboutin heels are just no fun to walk around in.
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I have the advantage of being pretty small, so if I'm flying myself, I'm flying coach. To save the money. I just put in my headphones, and it's no big thing. I keep my head down, wear a hoodie or a hat - but sometimes not even that. I'm small. People miss me.
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I fall in love with characters when they're out of their element or are uncomfortable and you really feel for them in a knee-jerk sympathetic way.
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Okay, I am happy with the way I look, but I have never, never, ever thought of myself as a 'pretty girl.' Honestly. When I read some of these scripts I'm sent, and they describe the heroine as 'incredibly beautiful,' I wonder why they sent it to me.
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I feel like I'm still learning a lot. I think there's a tendency for people who are just doing their first couple of films that I see now where they seem to be really resentful of the technical limitations that come along with filmmaking.
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I'm a big fan of '30 Rock,' which I think is the most genius show on television.