I Have A Surfboard That Says 'linda

For A While, I Thought, Maybe I Should Direct, Until I Got To New York And Saw The Stupidity Of That Idea. If It's Hard To Get Into Acting, What Is It Like For A Woman To Become A Director?

I Was Always Trying To Make Up For My Size, To Compensate. So To Get People To Take You Seriously, You Have To Come At Things With A Great Deal Of Strength. You Have To Emphasize That The Way You Are Is Unusual. That You Don't Come Along Every Day.

For Me To Want To Be An Actor Was An Improbable Idea. I Wasn't Beautiful Or Pretty In Any Conventional Way. I Wasn't An Ingenue At 22. But I Was Always Certain Of It And Certain Of Its Power. I Felt The Power When I Went To The Theater At 9, 10, 12 And 14.

It Really Hit Home That My Parents Felt As Though They Didn't Have To Worry Anymore. They Realized If You Could Win An Oscar, That Was A Good Sign.

I Think People Have Always Liked In Me The Combination Of Being The Underdog Because I'm A Tiny Woman But I Have Enormous Authority In Myself.