Imogen Poots has been thinking about a Sam Shepard quote: "People here have become the people they're pretending to be." Those 10 words, from a poem in his "Motel Chronicles" collection, are kind of about her character in "Hedda," the quietly courageous Thea. But they're also kind of about everything. After 20 years of acting in movies, television and on the stage, Poots is having a clarifying moment. And Shepard's words somehow get to the heart of it all: the disorienting paradox of attempting to work as an artist in a big industry like Hollywood and preserving your soul in the process. "I was always clear about what I wanted to do professionally, if only I could get there, in independent cinema and theater," Poots told The Associated Press in a recent interview. "But only in the last two years, something's clicked." The 36-year-old English actor has always managed to elegantly navigate her way through the distracting noise of franchises and fame and find the types of interesting filmmakers, stories and projects she'd always dreamed of, working with the likes of Peter Bogdanovich, Terrence Malick, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Imelda Staunton along the way. But this year has been particularly special with three films that she's enormously proud to be part of: sharing the screen with the great Nina Hoss in Nia DaCosta's fiery"Hedda" (streaming on Prime Video), delving into the throes of an affair, with Brett Goldstein, in the romantic drama "All of You" (streaming on Apple TV) and giving herself over to what may just be remembered as a defining performance in Kristen Stewart's directorial debut, "The Chronology of Water" (in theaters in Los Angeles and New York, nationwide on Jan. 9). "You can make these films that simply don't find their home, or don't... Read More