My Husband Thinks He's Compromising If We

I Remember My First Friend Who Got Sick. It Was 1981, And The Disease Was Called The Gay Cancer. I Don't Think The Word 'aids' Came Out Until '84. I Just Remember It Being Terrifying As More People Got Sick. We Didn't Know How You Could Catch It, You Heard All Kinds Of Crazy Things.

I Just Would Never Go Audition, And Yet I Was In Very Visible Places Where People Would Come Looking For Actors. I Say I'm Lazy, Though I'm Sure If I Were In Therapy For A Lot Of Years, It Would Turn Out To Be A Lot More Than Laziness. After Awhile, It Was, Like, Too Embarrassing For Me Not To Go On Auditions. I Had To Be Humiliated Into It.

I’m Tenacious, I Think – I Know – And I Do Also Have A Quality Where If You Tell Me I Can’t Do Something, If I Know I Can’t Do It I’m The First To Raise My Hand And Say, “i Can’t Do That.” But There Is A Big Bronx, New York Jew In Me That Just Says, “really? Really? You Think I – Yes, I Can. I Can Do It. I Can Do It.

It Is Clear I Was Never The Pretty Girl. I Had My Two Front Teeth Knocked Out When I Was 10 And Didn't Fix Them Until I Was 19. I Have A Crooked Smile And A Nose That Looks Like It's Been Broken 12 Times But Never Has Been. My Nose Was Always Red, So People Called Me Rudolph. My Whole Face Is Off-center.

I Studied Acting For 10 Years Before I Went For An Audition. I Studied With Lee Strasberg And Actors Studio Teachers, And Went To The High School Of Performing Arts.