«I'm not that person, ... I'm a storyteller. I'm an entertainer. I'm an actor. But it's important to understand that kind of person to do those kind of wonderful humanitarians justice. I really tried to get into their skin. I met people in Africa out in the field who possess that kind of dedication. I tried to absorb who they were in order to understand them and hopefully portray that kind of passion and commitment in my performance.»

«had never seen poverty like that.»

«I had never seen poverty like that, ... It was extreme and tragic, and I felt a wave of guilt being a wealthy white Westerner walking through those slums filming a movie.»

«I take that as a compliment, ... I've just done lots of different kinds of things.»

«I think mystery is kind of great. I don't know anything about Bette Davis or Katharine Hepburn or Ava Gardner -- not really -- and I like that. I love watching their movies because they're my personal movie stars. I don't know what they eat and who their trainer is.»

«I definitely had to go after it. Fernando wasn't too familiar with any British actresses work, so I was working here in LA and I read the script. I knew that he was directing it and I had a day off in my shooting schedule. I got on a plane - Fernando was in London and he was seeing British actresses and I was, 'Oh my God, I've got to meet him?' I managed to get to London and back in 24 hours? I had an hour with him? I think I went in there a bit like a hurricane of passion? I was the first person that he met, but then he wanted to meet everybody, so he met a bunch of people and I was back in LA dying. And so then I wrote him a very impassioned letter and then finally I got the role?»

«She can be infuriating. [Fernando] didn't want her to be this Mother Theresa/angel character, ... She's a flawed human being just like the rest of us. But she is someone who is willing to stand up and believe what she believes to be right and doesn't mind making enemies along the way.»

«There are a million people living there with no running water, no electricity and no sanitation. A very high level of disease, HIV, poverty. Here we have some seriously tragic material, but such spiritual wealth at the same time. In my culture, we go shopping to feel better. Some things are just a little crazy isn't it?»

«Right now I'm just really excited that the movie is coming out. I'm really proud of it. I'm so deeply proud of the work and the movie and all aspects of it. There's the fact that it's a really exciting thriller. The fact that it's a very useful, very original, very unusual love story and the fact that it has a conscience,»

«So it has brains and heart and soul and I'm just really proud of it. I hope that people come to see it because I think that it's really special and moving, and should it be honored in any way by the Academy would obviously be a glorious thing. But one cannot think about those things!»