What attracted you about "The Business of Strangers"?

The challenge was portraying a woman you see a lot in caricature, especially in American films. You know, the female executive of a certain age. She starts out like that, but you realise that there are these other strange dimensions to her. You had to keep a balance and not soften her because she is a bitch, and she is neurotic and wound up. You don't want people to say, "See, she is really a nice person". That's just garbage.

Does the ambiguity of the characters and the situation make this kind of movie more interesting for an actor?

I'm so happy that people see the film and come up with all these different scenarios. They don't know if the relationship is sexual, maternal, or mentor-like. Patrick [Stettner, the director] really lets the audience make up their own mind.

Do you think women have to sacrifice more than men in order to climb the corporate ladder?

To a degree, yes. But I also think there's a lot of men out there who are shuffling about on aeroplanes, with wives and kids or whatever at home, who have a real sense of life passing them by. Patrick and I aways talked about Julie in non-gender specific terms, because it's really much more about contemporary life. The story is more eye-catching because it's about two women, but it could just as easily be about two men.

Did playing Julie make you reflect upon your own life and what you might have sacrificed? 

Well yeah. I thought, "Mine's not so bad, I couldn't live her life". People say to me all the time that I'm very organised, as if I have an executive air about me, and I go, "Don't be silly!" One of the reasons I became an actor was to be a bit of a gypsy and deal with the wilder side of my nature.