I didn’t picture myself as a movie actress. I began to think about it around college. I remember thinking, ‘Well somebody has to be in them,’ so maybe I could do that eventually. It’s all been a surprise. – Annette Bening
With movies, so much of it is, ‘Who is the human being that is going to be directing it?’ Because it is their medium. In a way, you are serving the director, and when it is someone that you feel you can have a lot of confidence in, it can make a big difference. – Annette Bening
If you can open people’s hearts first, then maybe people’s minds get opened after that. – Annette Bening
I knew I wanted children in my life. The acting was always in relation to it. Life at home is chaos. They’re wonderful. They’re such interesting human beings. I just love it. I’m lucky. – Annette Bening
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. – Annette Bening
I still remember the five points of salesmanship: attention, interest, conviction, desire and close. – Annette Bening
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. – Annette Bening
I had never been attracted to younger guys. I had, from my late teens, always liked men who were older than me. – Annette Bening
It’s kind of a mystery to me, as far as my own life experiences and what I’ve witnessed – why some people can just move on through traumatic experiences, in childhood particularly, and why other people are just paralyzed by it. I just don’t know how and why that is. – Annette Bening
Our children see us a certain way, and we want to be seen by them in a certain way. I certainly want to be a strong, stable, loving, consistent presence in my children’s lives. But we are human beings, too. – Annette Bening
My dad was in the life insurance business, so I learned about selling when I was about 14 because I started working as a secretary. – Annette Bening
