I love anybody who's willing to stick to their own vision, their own voice, who's not easily swayed by money or by financiers who are going to tell t… - Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Every part and every year I just learn little bit more about myself and I start liking myself more. That’s been the biggest change for me, which I think is very normal. I started when I was younger; throughout my early twenties, I was just trying to figure out what other people wanted me to be and fit that. I think now that I’ve enter my thirties, I go, "Oh, I’m what people want. What I am already!" Then you start embracing that. Just being yourself is the key to the whole thing. That’s something I’ve really clicked into in the past couple of years more so than ever before.

Just knowing that I had the complexity and the capacity as an actor to play the kinds of roles I always wanted to play. I think I had always wanted to go down a certain road, but I had insecurities about whether or not I could really focus on that. So when I did that, it felt so good. I realized these kinds of complex roles and this kind of material is what I can steer myself toward. I don't have to worry if I’m good enough for it.

I think it’s been a very slow progression for me in terms of shifting the perspective. I did a lot of really, really small films that, at least for me, shifted my trajectory in terms of the way that I saw myself as an actor and the projects that I wanted to pursue. I think it helped me bring a deeper level of understanding to the characters that I play, whether they’re in small films or big films. So I think taking some time out to focus on really small, character-driven roles helped lead me to those bigger projects that were also really character-driven and demanded a certain level of depth that I might not have had without those smaller, more character-focused independent films.