When I was younger and I was getting older, I remember thinking that if I couldn't do it gracefully, then I would have to quit. You know, looking at yourself aging onscreen, it can bring up stuff. It's one thing to be aging in a job where your looks don't matter, but as an actress, it's so much part of your image.

With scripts I've always looked at them and thought about kids, you know? Thought about the world and the impact... I won't do nudity and I never felt comfortable with that whole idea or things with huge sexual content - not my thing.

There was a day when doing TV was like, oh my God, the end of your career. Now it's just like, we all want to do TV; we all want to do great TV.

Not for one second do I not, like, pinch myself that I've had a successful acting career for 24 years. I am so grateful. But it's unfortunate that we live in a society that really puts a lot of pressure on women to look a certain way and to age a certain way. I think that sucks.

Life is difficult. Not just for me or other ALS patients. Life is difficult for everyone. Finding ways to make life meaningful and purposeful and rewarding, doing the activities that you love and spending time with the people that you love - I think that's the meaning of this human experience.

Everyone thinks I land in a chopper on top of my building and I have the most cushy existence. Could you understand that I might have the most messed up life myself?

We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.

There's almost a fear that if you understood too deeply the way you arrived at choices, you could become self-conscious. In any case, many ideas which are full of personal meaning seem rather banal when you put words to them.