RB: I read that [director] Mira Nair thought you were a dead ringer for Amelia. What do you think?

HS: I didn't at all! I don't see a similarity much. I have olive skin, dark hair, dark eyes, and she's light-skinned, freckled and blonde. But that's part of where my passion lies. In the challenge of painting the character honestly, physically and emotionally.

RB: There's been a lot of award buzz around your performance in this movie. Do you listen to that or avoid it?


HS: You know, it's really such an honor to get to be able to live my dream. To me, that's such a reward, to work with Mira [Nair], Clint [Eastwood], Richard [Gere], Morgan Freeman. It's quite extraordinary in itself. So when people start mentioning things like an Academy Award, it's really humbling. To think that your work and doing what you love would generate such a compliment is really something extraordinary.