Throughout her acting career, Julia Stiles has made fierce lead roles her trademark. From her standout role in 1999's "10 Things I Hate About You" to now starring in season 2 of "Riviera" on Sundance Now, Stiles says that offering a fragility to these leading ladies is a challenge she consistently looks forward to as an actor.

"I like playing characters that show vulnerability and show weaknesses and don't always make the right decisions, but I tend to choose the stronger choice," Stiles told Salon's Alli Joseph on "Salon Talks."

She added, "A lot of times we're playing pretend in this world where we get to act out the things that we don't really get to do in real life, so you can have the monologue, the tirade, where you got to stick up for yourself and be really forceful and articulate and make the demands that you wanted, that you maybe don't get to do in real life or you wish you could."

In "Riviera," Stiles plays Georgina, the rich widow of a Greek billionaire with a mystery on her hands. According to Stiles, understanding Georgina's inner emotional world is particularly important because she's an outsider in that world and can't trust anybody.

Watch Julia Stiles' full "Salon Talks" episode to hear more about "Riviera" and her next role, a journalist opposite Jennifer Lopez and Cardi B in "Hustlers."