Annette Bening Quotes
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I had never been attracted to younger guys. I had, from my late teens, always liked men who were older than me.
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Having a life outside of movies is like pure oxygen. It makes the work more precious and informed.
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I feel really lucky that I'm able to pursue the work that I love. I want my children to see that. I want them to have that for themselves, something that they love, that they do, that they pursue in their lives as a way of growing and learning.
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My husband and I have very similar backgrounds even though we're years apart. So there are a lot of things that we basically share.
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My character in 'Running With Scissors' is manic-depressive. She starts out as a wonderfully eccentric person, and then descends into a terrible illness.
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Five billion people have played Hamlet. 'To be or not to be.' And how do you do that and find your way into your own journey, your own way of telling it?
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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.
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I think you sort of shed skins as you go along in life. You get into your 40s, and you feel like, 'OK, no more pretending.' You get to just be who you are.
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We all perform our lives in a way. And the actor is a perfect metaphor to get at that theme of 'how do we find our authentic selves?' And that we all - whether we're actors or not - perform ourselves. As a way of searching. As a way of fumbling around and trying to say, is this my voice? Is this who I am?
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I like that I've been through things, that when something happens, it resonates with something that already happened. It's not that things like loss are more or less painful. But they're deeper. I find that fascinating.
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Right now, I love the fact that I have so many opportunities, but I know this privileged position cannot last. That doesn't mean that I'll stop working. I picture myself as an old actress doing cameos in films with people saying: 'Isn't that that Bening woman?'
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I feel that certain things are best kept inside a family and not discussed with anyone else.
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I'm still very critical of myself in film.
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There's love for your parents, your family, your spouse, your partner, your friends, but the nature of the connection you have with your child, there's nothing like it. It has its own character and it's so serious and so powerful, and so it's a prism through which I see everything.
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I think for all of us, as we age, there are always a few moments when you are shocked.
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I like things that I feel comfortable in.
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I didn't do a movie until I was almost 30. I'm grateful for that because it gave me a chance to be an adult in the world and do work in the regional theater that very few people cared about. I loved it and I wanted to do that stuff.
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What makes us love a character is a character that tries.
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Anybody who has children and children who are well feels a sense of responsibility towards parents and kids and families that are struggling and that aren't well.
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Most women would say they relate to 'Hedda Gabler' - there's a part of her in them. Ibsen was writing about a deep ambivalence that many women feel about domesticity. I think about myself and friends of mine - we have some of Hedda's qualities and traits.
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I am in awe of Ruth Draper.
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I love being busy, and I love having a lot going on; it's exciting.
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The time I spend with my kids informs every fiber of who I am.
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I never speak for my husband, and I never speak for my children. It's a rule. Believe me, it is.