Oscars 2011

SUSAN: I find you remarkably involved in life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness in a very brave and uncompromising way. Your political activism, intelligence and courage have always been very inspiring to me.

VANESSA: I still remember something that you once said: You had recorded a speech for an event we were doing to fight racism in Europe, and you said that film and theater were necessary to a community's survival. And I knew that to be true, but you were the only person I had ever heard actually say it.

SUSAN: I think that every movie is political...but it's only the ones that challenge the status quo that are considered to be political. I'm glad that my Oscar came when it did for Dead Man Walking, and not earlier. It meant more to get it for that particular film.

VANESSA:That was a wonderful movie. It was the extraordinary thing that happens when a person and her convictions—her whole self—become completely infused with the character. When that happens, you remember it forever.