Jennifer Connelly looks gorgeous and glamorous on the December cover of Vogue. Something about all the photos of her is so intense and at the same time serene, but as expected she's not really one to crack a smile. In the article Jennifer talks about taking such dark roles, including her most recent one as a grieving mother in Reservation Road, and what ultimately turned her life around. Here's highlights:

• On taking on sad roles: "I don't often play characters who are the happy-go-lucky girl next door. For the most part I have made dramas with women who are, you know, grieving." She laughs. "I think that has shaped people's perception of me. But I don't think that's necessarily a reflection of how I live my life. I don't think I'm a particularly sad person. I don't feel bereft or depressed. I don't think of myself as chilly. These are just parts that I find interesting."
• On her looks contributing to the parts she gets: "Huh! Huh! I have no idea. I don't think of myself as someone who has such a strong physical appearance that it should push them one way or another. It makes me sort of mad to think that someone's coloring should define their personality. I mean, certainly, you look at someone like, again, Meryl Streep, you know that she can play anyone: Despite her fair coloring, you completely buy her no matter what she does. But maybe with me, a lesser talent, it is all about that." She laughs again. "You may be onto something."

To see what Jennifer has to say about her kids and more of her photoshoot just read more

• On her kids: "Becoming a mother, which was something that I craved for so long," she says. "From the moment Kai was born, it was like everything was thrown open. It was the most miraculous thing. I was forced to start living in a different way. Just loving someone that much? Having someone whose well-being I cared so much about? I had to learn how to do all the things that I thought a good, stable, integrated person—who could hopefully be an apt mother—should be. And that meant learning how to be part of a community. Kai demanded it as well, because he had a very different kind of personality, very open. And I am shy. I had learned to be by myself; it was just the way I grew up. So I was really forced to kind of move out into the world and learn how to get the things I had secretly always wanted." She seems as startled and delighted as I am by this sudden flash of candor. "And then I married someone who is the most extroverted, social person, so that's really changed me as well."

While I do wish that Jennifer would someday take a role that involved a little less intensity (wouldn't mind seeing more of that smile), obviously Jennifer is just up for a challenge. Plus, hearing her talk about her adorable kids proves that no matter how serious she is on the big screen, deep down she's just a softie for her little ones.

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