Marcia Gay Harden quotes:

Reading is a joy for my kids, and to swing in a hammock on a lazy summer day reading a good book just goes with summer.

It's hard to balance work and family.

Shakespeare set a lot of his dramas in a historical perspective or war perspective, or he would study what was going on at that time.

In my opinion, Zac Efron is a total hero. Him seeking help encourages other people with addictive issues to seek help. It's brave of him.

My work often takes me away from my family for long periods of time, so I've really come to appreciate the time I do spend with them.

I love it when ugliness is beautiful. I love character flaws.

You want to know how I'm feeling? Just look at me, and I'll tell you how I'm feeling. Nothing is hidden. I'm all out there. I cry like a baby, I get upset, I stamp my feet. I'm not stoic.

I've had an amazing career and amazing blessings. But I'm an everyday person, and I have lived an everyday life, and I drive an everyday car.

All those days of waiting on tables until I could get a role on Broadway, all that time going to school taking lessons, and all those years of being a nobody following a dream-and now here it is.

In 2005, I had the great honor of playing Shailene Woodley's mother in 'Felicity: An American Girl Adventure.' I was immediately impressed by her work ethic, both on and off set.

In the theater, it's about taking time in a musical segment, a pause in a musical way and then moving on.

People have such false perceptions of how stardom really works.

I think families should vacation together, and cruising is a wonderful option.

We can be incredibly disconnected in this day and age with computers and cell phones.

Harlem is a very family-oriented neighborhood, and it always has been.

In my kids' school, the married family is an anomaly... which I do think is sad. I do believe in marriage.

I'm fortunate to have a team of people who help me. I've got an assistant, an office manager, a nanny - she's not full-time, but she's there when I need her.

You're over there in the corner either thinking about the dead dog or whatever, you're bringing up your personal life and you need the space, and then somebody throws you a joke. Especially if it's an emotional scene, you don't want the joke.

Whether you win or not, the night the Oscars are over, the curtain goes down and you go back to the grind. Period.

Oh, I just love being a character actress. You have a lot of fun, and not only that, you save tons on cosmetic surgery because you never have to have liposuction.

I think in terms of family, in terms of relationships, in terms of work, competition to be the favorite, to be the noticed, to be the one - I don't know if it exists for all personalities, but I know for sure it did with me.

So far, the thing I seem to have been rewarded for in film is leaving myself behind and transforming myself into other people.

I have a theory that there's almost this primal viewpoint on women in the business, that once you're beyond childbearing age, you are perceived as nonthreatening, nonsexual, noncastable. Sure, I already knew it before I got into it. I just didn't know I'd end up making my living from low-budget, independent films.

You have to make sure that you and your child are connecting, and it does help when they are looking directly into your eyes.

They tell us in magazines and in ads, 'Oh, you should look like this, you should wear this, you should look like this movie star, or you're nothing.' And so we're all totally unsatisfied.

I had a science teacher in middle school who inspired me... simply because she acknowledged me and made me feel that what I had to offer was worthy.

I examine other people's characteristics, so when I'm playing characters, I don't always have to make them me; I can transform into others.

I love being a mother; I hate being a housewife - the cooking, the laundry - because it takes away time I could be with my kids.

As a mother, I love the Leapster handheld because it really delivers on educating children while they play. My daughter enjoys it because it's fun and touches on all of the activities she is interested in - videos, books and art.

My schools were quite diverse - those who serve their country come from every race and religion - and so the military schools I attended were a wonderful melting pot.

In theater, you have a rehearsal period and you know just who to be.

Sometimes in film and television, I don't have the opportunity to play roles that really stretch and challenge me.

I'm just a pack mule. I've played leads and I've played character roles. Any actress in Hollywood will tell you as your age climbs, the leads thin.

You know what I miss? I miss myself, that time to just do things for myself.

I celebrated [my 50th birthday] by throwing a big bowl on the pottery wheel, then going for a water ski at the lake on our property in the Catskills, and that night, skinny-dipping under the stars. Just being free and joyful. And that's how I [felt] about turning 50.

I do pottery.

I love physical comedy. I adore comedy of any kind.

In any film, there are 10 male roles for 1 female role, especially in the action films. They're heavy with the guys.

I loved playing Anne Bancroft, because she was so wonderfully arch.

Back in the days of Barbara Stanwyck and Bette Davis, beauty wasn't the be-all and end-all it is today.

It's very hypocritical to constantly say, 'We want to keep our kids close,' then send them home with so much homework that family time becomes nonexistent.

I think irrationality is one of the scariest things in the world.

I played Laura Bush in a Tony Kushner piece, and afterward, I think my phones got tapped.

With any tween, you have issues, from what they are going to wear to school, to how do you get them to speak politely, to how regularly they lose their contact lenses.

Everybody says 'Good Morning' in Harlem because it's true! And that's lovely.

A New York casting director, who shall remain nameless, once said to me, 'Marcia, you have what I call the flaring-nostril look, and until you get something done about it, you will never, ever work.'

I relate to people and roles that are about the arc of human experience, things that everyday people deal with every day.

Anybody who is really walking with the Lord is embracing the foibles and the beauties and the differences of humanity, regardless of race, color, creed, economic stature and sexual proclivity, whatever. You embrace the beauty of humanity and not be exacting and belittling about the differences.

I was always an exhibitionist. I liked it when everyone laughed. But I didn't do plays in high school. I was too nervous.

The important thing is that when you correct your children, they see what they've done wrong and why you're upset.

You can manipulate the viewer in film. With theater, what you see is what you get.

Having a dad in the service was helpful. I was forever meeting new kids, going to new schools, moving to new neighborhoods. I was encouraged when I attended the American School in Germany.

I was always the child who wore her emotions on her sleeve.

If you are not in the red playroom of pain and pleasure, "¦ shooting the movie is much like doing any other movie.

I'm not a big fan of mediocre.

In my kids school, the married family is an anomaly which I do think is sad. I do believe in marriage.

Its important that kids learn, but I really dont like all the testing, testing, testing.