If my playing a woman is going to get the point across, I'll do that.

For the first time, she was playing a woman her own age, 29.

Thompson is known to have played women for at least ten years, if not more.

She played a woman whose son has died of malaria.

It was almost as if she were playing an old woman but wasn't accustomed to the role.

She played sweet Diana, a young woman of a great heart.

"In the film I play a much older woman," she said.

Because of her mature voice, she often plays strong, beautiful women.

From there, she has made a name for herself playing intriguing, complex women.

Or the true story of the white actress playing a black woman in Shakespeare.