At the Golden Globes, you were sitting with Ben Affleck when he
and Matt Damon won. Do you get excited by awards shows, or are
you immune to it because you grew up in Hollywood?
Well, this year was funny, because I saw so many people I know
and really like. There was Jessica Lange, who I've done a movie
with and who I love. There's Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw.
There's Jack Nicholson, who kept trying to ask me out on a date.
I thought, This is so bizarre! It's like, Who am I?
At the same time, you're really comfortable because you're with
all these people you know. But it's not that long ago I would've
been completely in awe of everybody.

In an actor's life, do awards mean anything?
It's nice if you get one, but it shouldn't be a goal. If I win
for one performance and don't win again, it's like I deserved it
that time but not all the other times I worked just as hard? I
wouldn't send a Native American onstage [a la Brando at the '74
Oscar ceremony] to say, 'I don't accept this.' But at the same
time, I don't think it should be what's important.

So, you've graduated to making big studio movies instead of
small independent productions.
Sliding Doors is small. It's only $6 million. It's tiny.

But you're doing films with Michael Douglas...
Yeah, I think, Oh, God, I made a Hollywood movie! Ugh!

Hey, there are worse things.
I know. It's so funny: My friends and I were talking, and I was
saying I do independent films. And they were like, 'Oh, shut up!
You're a cheesy fucking movie star!' I said, 'That is not true!
I do art movies!'
They're like, 'You're not a cool art actress unless you've had a
good independent movie that's a commercial failure!' I said,
'Hard Eight, that's my redemption.' And they said, 'Oh, yeah.
Okay, you win.'

Did you enjoy doing Sliding Doors?
Yes, it was a dream--clever and funny and so romantic. I've
never had that experience. I always watch my movies and say,
'Oh God, this sucked,' or, 'There's a problem here,' or, 'I'm
terrible in this scene!' This is the first time I've watched a
film I'd been in and just went with it.
A lot of the time, I forgot it was me. I really responded to
it, and I'm proud of the movie. That's something I'd only said
about Hard Eight till now.