“Damages” star Glenn Close’s suggestion to thwart the fashion-obsessed media prompted unanimous mock agreement from a panel of Emmy-contending drama actresses, part of a spirited hourlong discussion. “Let’s do it!” agreed Sandra Oh (“Grey’s Anatomy”). “Let’s plan it!”

Also on board were Kyra Sedgwick (“The Closer”), Chloe Sevigny (“Big Love”), Claire Danes (HBO’s “Temple Grandin”) and Elisabeth Moss (“Mad Men”).

GIVEN THE TIGHT SCHEDULES OF TV PRODUCTION, WHAT’S YOUR SECRET FOR LEARNING LINES?

Kyra Sedgwick: My character is particularly verbose. Out of a 46-page script I think I have 30 pages of dialogue. Every sense has to be accommodated. I have to listen to it, I have to read it with somebody, I have to look at it every way. It’s all-consuming. I’m not one of those people who can look at a page and know it. Some people have that. J.K. Simmons on my show has that and it’s really irritating! (Laughs.)

Glenn Close: How long do you get scripts before you shoot?

Sedgwick: We usually get (scripts) about four or five days before we start shooting the first episode. But then, you’re still learning that episode when you get the next episode. I have a 15-, 16-hour day, then I go home and work on the lines. And when I wake up in the morning, and during lunch, and in the bathtub, and on the weekends, and going for a hike …

Chloe Sevigny: I try to do all my work at work, and study my lines in the trailer in the morning.

Claire Danes: The pace of television is extraordinary. I’ve never found the same kind of demands in film. I did “My So-Called Life” a long time ago and I definitely remember the strain of it. I lost my period, actually, at one point, because the stress was just so intense.

Close: The thing I find hard is, for the amount of time that we’re shooting, not being able to say to anyone, “Yes, I can show up Wednesday night for dinner.” My husband is not in the business, so that’s the biggest cost. To know that you can’t depend on being there because the schedule will change and it will go later than you think.

ELISABETH, DO YOU FIND THE SECRECY AROUND YOUR SHOW AND YOUR CHARACTER MAKES IT TOUGHER ON YOU AS AN ACTRESS?

Elisabeth Moss: We don’t get our scripts until sometimes the day of the read-through, which is the day right before we start the episode. We hear things here and there, but I would love to know more. I would love to know the entire arc of my character. Obviously, that’s what’s really great about doing film or doing theater, but I’m kinda used to it now.

Close: I never know. We used to have read-throughs but we don’t. We get the script sometimes at 11 o’clock at night before we start shooting.

Sedgwick: Oh, forget it!

Close: I’ve gotten so used to learning my lines in the makeup chair. They are a very organic group of writers.

Moss: That’s such a nice word. (Laughs.)

KYRA, YOU PRODUCE YOUR SHOW. DO THE REST OF YOU GRAPPLE WITH ISSUES OF CONTROL?

Sandra Oh: Don’t we all? You sign on to do these series after only reading a pilot. You put so much trust in the creators and sometimes you aren’t excited about what they’re doing with your character or where the story’s going, or the tone of the show changes a little bit. And you just have to go with it.

Moss: A lot of trust is involved.

Close: We sign our lives away for a few years on the strength of one script. I did. It’s almost incredible.

CHLOE, CLAIRE AND ELISABETH, YOU ALL STARTED WORKING VERY YOUNG. HOW DO YOU THINK THAT IMPACTED YOU?

Moss: I’ve been working for so long, most of what I’ve learned has been from doing. By working with other actors, working with directors and writers and different writing styles. I’m just happy that I never really got that famous when I was little because I got the chance to get better before anyone knew who I was.

Danes: I also think we were so lucky to have that success 10, 15 years ago, before there was this media craziness. I was entitled to a great amount of privacy. I could get it wrong, and now that just doesn’t exist. I don’t know how kids today do it. It’s really crazy. I did a movie with Zac Efron recently and the kind of paranoia that he experiences is justified because people have cameras all on their phones and everywhere. It’s a different game now.

THR: WHAT BOTHERS YOU MOST ABOUT ACTORS?

Sedgwick: Oh my gosh, that’s a terrible question. I’m married to one!

Danes: So am I!

Moss: We all have to go back and work with our male actors.

Close: I love actors. I call myself an actress. Why call myself an actor? That was back when it was all about being feminist. But I call all of us an alien nation and I love my fellow actors. You go to some terrible play, some off-off-Broadway play and you see somebody being not very good, and I love them even more. It takes a certain type of bravery.

Moss: Yes, I think bravery would be the personality trait that we all aspire to.

Sedgwick: We get to explore what it is to be human. And all that it means. I find that very profound.