There's definitely a luxury to the fluidity of not being a mega-star. I've done a ton of really, really odd, off-the-wall movies. There's this movie I did called 'Queens of Country' a couple of summers ago that is so bananas, and if I was at a certain level, I probably would not have done that movie
I was engrossed with the book, I was having difficulties with it, and I just didn't notice the years were going by.
Novels attempt to render human experience; that's really all they are. They are meant to convey empathy for the character.