I wanted to quit acting and as soon as I decided that, the call for 'Velvet Buzzsaw' came through.
I didn't think I'd be getting a contract at 34. That wasn't in my mind.
The more I find out about the dynamic and how it works, the more I realize how lucky I am to have ever got anything. Like... there was no need to put me in 'Cinderella Man' - there was no need. Why? Just get an American actor - it would've been cheaper, probably.
Until I became a nurse, no one had ever asked me to sign a book contract. I had been writing for decades, read thousands of books, and even worked in publishing for 10 years. Who knew that nursing would be my break?
It was not something that ever occurred to me, to be able to be in TV. I was very lucky.
The real excitement and big deal for me started when I got cast in the first X-Men, which was sort of a fluke.
The show originally started out as a ten hour mini-series. We shot two hours and then were excused for a while, for no apparent reason. Things went very quiet for a time and then a few months later we were called back and told that it was going to be a full season.
I got a book deal without even turning in one shred of a writing sample.
I got my first show at Blum & Poe because Paul McCarthy postponed his show, and they came to my studio and asked me if I could put together a show in two weeks.
I've been very lucky. The moment I decided to return to films, I got two good projects.
Today is declared an unscheduled holiday.
I had a kind of meandering little career, and then I was given a chance to play one of the bottom six in The Dirty Dozen.
