Recalling humorous stories about her life on and off camera, Academy Award-winning actress Olympia Dukakis spoke yesterday evening at the Royden B. Davis, S.J., Performing Arts Center.

Dukakis, who won the Oscar for best supporting actress in 1988 for her role in “Moonstruck,” began the interview by speaking about her experiences as a Greek immigrant in the United States. She said that she struggled as an immigrant in a largely foreign culture and described the first fight she had as a 7-year-old girl.

“Ethnic bias – you can’t escape. By age of seven, I realized that one,” she said.

Dukakis said that as she aged, however, her “rebellious” character began to clash with the values of her traditional Greek mother.

Dukakis also described her circuitous career path to becoming an actress, which included taking a job as a physical therapist in West Virginia. She said that she didn’t pursue a career in acting until she entered graduate school because of financial constraints.

Dukakis said that once she began acting on stage, she became hooked.

“I have an appetite to get into the world of the play,” she said. “The better the play, the appetite is stronger.”

Dukakis said that she has learned to find personal connections with the characters she portrays. She said dialogues especially allow her to relate to her characters.

“The dialogue is the way in,” she said. “For me, it is important to understand what are the obstacles. Maybe the characters don’t know it, but I have to know it.”

Dukakis said that, despite fame and the numerous accolades she has accumulated during her acting career, she attributes much of her success to good fortune.

“You have to be lucky in this business,” she said. “Did I have the skills? Yes. But opportunity [was] provided to me. . That was luck.”

Dukakis also gave advice for aspiring actors, saying that they should “jump into [the play]” and learn to become independent.

“The idea [is] that you are independent and responsible for everything that happens to you and [that you] don’t look at other people,” she said. “An actor has to be a person of the theater.”