Meaning: The quote by Sarah Polley, a Canadian actress and filmmaker, reflects on her personal experience with loss and the impact it has had on her approach to her craft. The profound statement provides insight into the complexity of dealing with personal tragedy while working in a profession that often requires delving into emotional depths.

Sarah Polley's mother, Diane Polley, passed away from cancer when Sarah was just 11 years old. This significant loss at a young age undoubtedly had a profound impact on her life and subsequently influenced her approach to her work as an actress and filmmaker. The quote suggests that despite her conscious efforts to keep her personal struggles separate from her professional life, the emotional weight of her mother's death inevitably found its way into her work.

One possible interpretation of this quote is that Sarah Polley acknowledges the difficulty of compartmentalizing personal grief and trauma while pursuing a career that often involves tapping into deep emotions. As an actress, she is required to inhabit various characters and portray a wide range of emotions, which can be challenging when dealing with unresolved personal pain. Despite her efforts to remain detached from her own experiences, the emotional residue of her mother's passing may have seeped into her work, adding layers of depth and authenticity to her performances.

Furthermore, the quote suggests that Sarah Polley is not one to use her roles as a means of working through her own personal issues. This implies a certain level of restraint and professionalism in her approach to acting, as she endeavors to keep her personal struggles separate from the characters she portrays. However, the acknowledgment that her personal experiences may have influenced her work highlights the interconnectedness of life and art. Even when one strives to maintain a boundary between personal and professional spheres, the two are inherently intertwined, and personal experiences can often inform and enrich creative expression.

Sarah Polley's quote also offers a glimpse into the emotional complexity that many artists navigate in their creative endeavors. The act of creating art, whether through acting, filmmaking, or any other medium, often involves tapping into one's own emotions and experiences to evoke genuine and compelling performances or storytelling. In this sense, the quote speaks to the universal struggle of balancing personal emotions with the demands of artistic expression.

In conclusion, Sarah Polley's quote provides a poignant reflection on the intersection of personal loss and artistic expression. It sheds light on the challenges of navigating one's own emotional experiences while engaging in a profession that requires delving into the depths of human emotion. By acknowledging the impact of her mother's death on her work, Polley invites us to consider the intricate interplay between personal life and artistic creation, and the ways in which our own experiences shape the art we produce.