Quotes from Jessica Lange

When I am home for like a two-year stretch, I get antsy, because I want to work.

TV is sort of the only way to go for an actress my age to make a decent salary with independent films, you just can't.

I've been thinking a lot about next year, which will be the first time in 25 years that I don't have a child at home.

I worked on my voice for Sweet Dreams, but only to match my speaking voice to Patsy's actual singing voice. That was my way into that character.

For me, nothing has ever taken precedence over being a mother and having a family and a home.

I never think of the future. I never imagine what comes next.

I am tortured when I am away from my family, from my children. I am horribly guilt-ridden.

At a certain age, death becomes familiar to you-or a loss becomes familiar-the tragedies that are more commonplace in life.

To my mind the election was stolen by George Bush and we have been suffering ever since under this man's leadership.

I could be making a lot more money now if I had chosen a different kind of movie, but none of that matters to me... I've done the parts I wanted to do.

The only place I've felt was really my home is my cabin up north. There's something in the water there that connects me to that place. There's also this sense of isolation and loneliness about it that I've never been able to shake.

All through life I've harbored anger rather than expressed it at the moment.

Families survive, one way or another. You have a tie, a connection that exists long after death, through many lifetimes.

The worst is when I talk myself into something. Sometimes you take things because you want to work with a certain actor, or you want to work with a director, even if the script or the part's not that great.

There are no explanations, there are no answers.

For me, acting was always a way to explore emotions - to dip into the well and really try to reach rock bottom down there. That was the most exciting part of it. I hadn't found anything that really allowed me to do that until I came upon acting.

I've worked with some teachers and coaches over the years, but I didn't really study theater or technique or voice or any of that stuff extensively.

We are not the originators of the story. I think it's actually the opposite when you're an actor. You're telling somebody else's story.

I want to live my life with no goals anymore, but just completely free, like I did when I was younger.

All through life I've harbored anger rather than expressed it at the moment.

Successful model? That's a myth. The year I modeled was the most painful year of my life. Editors would always talk to you in the third person as though you were merely a piece of merchandise.

If I didn't have children I'd be a much better actress. I wouldn't be so distracted. I could pour 100 percent of my energies into it, to promote the investigation which acting is.

At a certain age, death becomes familiar to you-or a loss becomes familiar-the tragedies that are more commonplace in life.

I had never done Shakespeare before, but I don't think you can be an actor and not do it. There were moments when I thought, I'm just not going to be able to pull this off.