Quotes from Sissy Spacek

When I started out in independent films in the early '70s, we did everything for the love of art. It wasn't about money and stardom. That was what we were reacting against. You'd die before you'd be bought.

Celebrity status for me came slowly. I wasn't an overnight sensation. I had time to prepare emotionally.

Living in New York always felt to me like living in the middle of a carnival. It never stopped. There was something very exciting about it.

I loved growing up in a little town. I loved knowing people. I loved going to the store and running into people. I loved going into the store and having forgotten my bag, saying, 'Charge it, put it on my bill.' I loved going to the gas station and saying, 'Pete, fill it up.' I loved that continuity of life.

I'm not Meryl Streep. My God - she's the greatest actor that ever lived. It's sad that ordinary actors like me are compared to her.

I'm drawn to ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances, which is a big part of the human condition.

For me, I never really wanted to be in a 'Sissy Spacek' vehicle. That was not my intention. I got to be the 'Everygirl.'

But you finally think, there is what there is, and you have to work within those confines and just keep chipping away at your own work.

It's a whole other way of working when you work in films: You know exactly the arc of your character.

I just make films that attract me.

Ultimately, you have to work for your own enlightenment - for smarts - or it gets boring.

I write about Texas, New York, California and Virginia, and they're all important places in my repertoire.

You need to live life to be able to have something to draw from.

I had no fear 'cause it seemed everyone in the audience always applauded whatever I did. Course, maybe it was because I always seemed to know everyone in the audience.

You know, I don't know what the future will bring, but I'm ready for whatever comes!