We all get lost along the way, but hopefully we figure out some sort of path. It helps if you can imagine the process as well as the goal. Those kinds of dreams are easier to achieve. – Annette Bening
I love the craft of acting, I love learning, I love everything that comes with the new project; the whole process is totally intoxicating to me. – Annette Bening
My parents were very supportive. They went to every show. And they never told me not to do what I was doing. – Annette Bening
We still want to idealize moms, and sometimes we want to idealize actresses who are moms, too. I know that’s something I’ve experienced, but we’re all just doing the best we can and we’re all trying to raise our kids and talk to them about everything that needs to be discussed. – Annette Bening
It’s easier to see in someone else, another actor, how they kind of disappear and then this other persona appears. A great actor is a thing of mystery. – Annette Bening
There’s no question that you can explore aspects of yourself through roles that you play, and you get a chance to investigate yourself; that’s healthy, and it’s therapeutic in a way. But if you’re indulging yourself, exploration at the cost of the story or the project, that’s not good. – Annette Bening
Everybody has a public life, and they have their own private life. Everybody has their secrets. Everybody has their own private, you know, agonies as well as joys. And that’s what great drama, whether it’s the movies or the theater, that’s what it shows. – Annette Bening
Sometimes you’re reading something, and you don’t know it will be important in your life. You’re reading this script, and you start to get involved. It’s not an intellectual experience. – Annette Bening
There are so many different kinds of relationships, so it’s sort of difficult to define what is considered normal. – Annette Bening
By the time I was in high school, Roe v. Wade had passed, so that was also happening; girls were getting pregnant and getting abortions – and that happened in my school too. – Annette Bening
It’s hard to make a living in this business. Unions aren’t as strong as they used to be. For a journeyman actor – someone who doesn’t have a famous name but has consistent work in theater or film or TV – it has become harder to get through, harder to raise a family. – Annette Bening
I’m certainly not a perfect mother, but I am an avid mother, let me put it that way. – Annette Bening
My sister and I fought a lot when we were kids. I was the little bratty sister, and she would kind of walk away, not wanting to be associated with me. – Annette Bening
I feel that certain things are best kept inside a family and not discussed with anyone else. – Annette Bening
I love the luxury of the camera. The camera does so much for you. I like the secrets a camera can tell. – Annette Bening
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?’ – Annette Bening
To me idealized characters are so boring to play, especially having grown up in the classical theater. That’s a great experience, but as a woman, especially, you’ve played a lot of idealized characters. So when you’ve got someone who has weaknesses as well as strengths, that’s interesting. – Annette Bening
I do have to take care of myself, not only because I’m in the movies, just for mental health reasons. I exercise for me. You know, maybe it would be nice to not have to do that in order to feel good, but I do. I feel like I have to, to feel good. To clear my head and all of that, so. – Annette Bening
Anyone who is drawn in broad strokes either negatively or positively is generally not very interesting to play. – Annette Bening
