Annette Bening

I'm certainly not a perfect mother, but I am an avid mother, let me put it that way.

— Annette Bening

To me, I didn't think of acting as being a young thing only.

— Annette Bening

I don't see myself as having to compete with younger actresses; I don't feel that.

— Annette Bening

Every person's opinion, in a way, does matter.

— Annette Bening

Why I love acting is that it's totally subjective and I like that. I like that.

— Annette Bening

I love being busy, and I love having a lot going on; it's exciting.

— Annette Bening

My mother is not somebody who's troubled by aging.

— Annette Bening

I've made some movies that I really loved that nobody saw.

— 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 want to be seen for who we really are, and each person has his own complex story and reasons for doing…

— Annette Bening

My character in 'Running With Scissors' is manic-depressive. She starts out as a wonderfully eccentric person, and then descends into a terrible…

— Annette Bening

I love watching people listen. And on film often some of the best moments if you think about favorite moments on film,…

— Annette Bening

And if there's anything movies can do in a way that I just love, and I love as an audience is, "Show…

— Annette Bening

I think you sort of shed skins as you go along in life. You get into your 40s, and you feel like,…

— Annette Bening

When I started in the theater, I'd do plays by Shakespeare or Ibsen or Chekhov, and they all created great women's roles.

— Annette Bening

Even with a stable character, you want something surprising to happen, hopefully because that's what the camera loves the most. That's what…

— Annette Bening

Most women would say they relate to 'Hedda Gabler' - there's a part of her in them. Ibsen was writing about a…

— Annette Bening

Everybody has a public life, and they have their own private life. Everybody has their secrets. Everybody has their own private, you…

— 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…

— Annette Bening

Somebody said something really smart: It's like you end up being the defense attorney for your role. Your job is to defend…

— Annette Bening

I always wonder about people's history and their lives, especially people that are a little bit more distant, who obviously have had…

— Annette Bening

When I look at women, older than I am, in their 50s, 60, 70s, 80s, and I see women that I admire,…

— Annette Bening

When I watch my kids, and I see the primal level at which the sibling relationships are formed, then I completely understand…

— 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…

— Annette Bening

Sometimes people don't rehearse at all, but you might have had a chance to rehearse for a few days, or even more…

— Annette Bening

A lot of acting is working with your own psyche in order to allow yourself to be open and reveal yourself. But…

— Annette Bening

This is a good thing to say to film students. If there's a story point that you don't feel right about, that…

— Annette Bening

Of course, you can never watch something like somebody else watches something like you, but nonetheless, you have to try. So I…

— Annette Bening

You read something and you know it's not there yet. There's a little section here that... this part's good but that is…

— Annette Bening

People always ask us women about how we balance our lives. Rarely do they ever ask men this but we are asked…

— Annette Bening

I'm just as intrigued by acting as ever. It's an ongoing process. There's no arrival. There's no point at which you say…

— Annette Bening

Most of the people that I've worked with when shooting films that I really respect, there is a point which you do…

— Annette Bening

I act, but I am a mother first and wife second.

— Annette Bening

I feel very lucky I don't have to be a critic.

— Annette Bening

If you can open people's hearts first, then maybe people's minds get opened after that.

— Annette Bening

I don't really have a choice. I'm getting older.

— Annette Bening

Acting is not about being famous, it's about exploring the human soul.

— Annette Bening

Yes, I know I've played these women, but I'm not really conniving at all.

— Annette Bening

It's always 'busy' with four children; it's chaos.

— Annette Bening

I'm interested in writing that explores all sides of human beings.

— Annette Bening