Actresses from the United States

"Husbands are like fires - they go out when unattended."

"A man in love is incomplete until he has married. Then he's finished."

"I never hated a man enough to give him his diamonds back."

"I am a marvelous housekeeper. Every time I leave a man, I keep his house."

"Being jealous of a beautiful woman is not going to make you more beautiful."

"The more wishes you make, the more magnificent Fantasia will become."

"I am committed to using technology in my dances but not for the purpose of making a comment on technology, but rather to use it as a tool to express the human condition. I think that there are many disadvantages to using technology, it is expensive, difficult to set up and can steal the show by drawing too much attention away from the dance. I love the beauty and the simplicity of a warm body moving without frills, but I think technology is part of our common language now and to not create a relationship with it in dance seems like ignoring a vital tool for connection."

"A slyly anarchic dancer"

"Stronach’s fragile beauty belies an emotional strength, pragmatic resiliency, and intellectual courage. Her ideas and choreography are both enigmatic and playful."

"Before you do anything, think. If you do something to try and impress someone, to be loved, accepted or even to get someone's attention, stop and think. So many people are busy trying to create an image, they die in the process. Sleeping with the wrong person is one thing, but not using a condom because you want to please someone, or because you're in a romantic bubble, is another. … I wish we weren't so busy trying to impress people."

"It's very easy to feel someone's pain when you love them."

"The biggest thing [Frida] brought into my life was this peacefulness. I still get passionate about things, but my passion is not so scattered and it's not needy. It's a lot more powerful because it comes with this groundedness and peacefulness. That it's about the process, not about the results."

"I came here and realized how truly limited my English was, and it was very scary. I soon realized it wasn't going to be hard to learn — it was going to be nearly impossible. My accent was horrible. In Mexico, nobody says, "You speak English with a good accent." You either speak English or you don't: As long as you can communicate, no one cares. But the word accent became such a big word in my life. And they thought I was crazy in Mexico when I said, "I'm going to Hollywood." Nobody thought I could make it."

"I also was afraid I was a very bad actress, because I'd become famous very fast and was making money for people. When you're making money, they're never going to tell you whether you're good or bad. They don't care. I knew that if I had any talent, this would kill it. I never wanted to be a famous bad actress!"

"I wanted to have a voice, and it was okay if I wasn't going to be so famous or so rich. And this the one thing I learned: How do you recognize what's your true dream and what is the dream that you are dreaming for other people to love you? … The difference is very easy to understand. If you enjoy the process, it's your dream. … If you are enduring the process, just desperate for the result, it's somebody else's dream."

"I'd hear, "Because they paid the man, there's no money for the woman." How many times do you think I heard this? Over and over. Then I became a sex symbol. Now, how the hell did that happen? I don't exactly know the moment when it happened, but all of a sudden I'm a bombshell. The way I discovered this was I did Desperado. I had a very hard time with the love scene. I cried throughout the love scene. That's why you never see long pieces of the love scene — it's little pieces cut together. I'm crying most of the time so they have to take little pieces. It took eight hours instead of an hour. I nearly got fired. … Because I didn't want to be naked in front of a camera. The whole time, I'm thinking of my father and my brother... And then when the movie comes out, I read the first review. What do they say about me. "Salma Hayek is a bombshell." I had heard that when a movie does badly here, they say it bombs. So I'm crying. Thinking they're saying, "That terrible actress! It's a bomb! Salma Hayek is the worst part of the movie!" I called my friend and said, "The critics are destroying me!" She says, "No, they're saying you're very sexy." And then I look at all the reviews, and everybody said I was very sexy. So I'm very confused. I said, "I wonder if that's good or bad." I hear, "Yes, that's good." Then I do Fools Rush In, and I'm a pregnant woman. And they say I'm sexy again! I go, "But I'm pregnant!" I'm not even naked in this movie, and they still say I'm sexy. And then it became very depressing — I thought, I guess I'm reduced to that now. That's all I am in the perception of these people."

"It's good to be sexy, but when that's all they can see — no."

"The perception of you is one thing. You're this famous person, and now you're this famous person who's a bombshell. So all of a sudden, that's the only way I get jobs. So I have to become the part. And they're telling you this is the way to do it. One director actually said to me, "I want to hear you talk dumber and faster." … He thought it was funny for the girl to be dumb. I finally said, "That's it, man — I can't do this anymore." I'd go to meetings during the filming of a movie, and the directors would ask, "What do you think of the script?" I'd say, "It has a lot of problems." They were confused. That's not what they wanted from me. … So I was not very popular. At one point I said, "I don't want to do this — it's not my dream." And so I said, "I'm going to start a company. I am going to create projects for me. I'm going to create projects for other Latin women." Because I got to a point where I was whining all the time. I was miserable. I was desperate"

"I had an acting teacher who once told me that you could never really create from comfort. To do well as an actress, you have to push yourself to the edge. When you're comfortable, you're still on your ass. Sometimes we sit on our ass even with things we don't like. The whining, the crying, the becoming the victim, the this-town-doesn't-like-me-because-I'm-Mexican could've all made me say, "That's it — racism takes care of all my problems." … I think that's why it's harder for us to succeed, because we have a beautiful, comfortable crutch. It's right there, available."

"I had been already trying to do Frida, but I would sit on my sorrows because it was so difficult. But now I was learning new things. And so I thought, this is what I want to do. I want to do one movie that if I die the next day, I know I left one thing in this world that I was very proud of, that other people can see, that meant something to me, that had my voice. Because God forbid I die tomorrow, I'm the bombshell for the rest of my existence. … Then I became very angry I said, I have become what they decided I am. When did I fall in this trap? Somebody decided I was this, and I became that. And I said, "I'm going to change it now. I'm going to define myself.""

"You have to be able to walk away from a relationship when it's time to walk away —and you have to teach your children this. It's the best way to love your children, because then they'll learn this from you — that you had the courage to walk away from a relationship when you were unhappy. You have to do what you have to do. And the children have to understand it. I think we have to teach this to our boys and our girls when they are young — 11, 12. They need to understand that you got in a situation when you were too young, when you didn't understand what you wanted, and because you listened to everyone else. Your children may not listen to you — so you also have to be brave enough to respect their dreams. … I think everybody knows this. We have an uncomfortable feeling for situations we are in, but we don't understand why we are uncomfortable. And then we want to know what would be the other option."

"I've learned from others' lives... What works in a relationship of very public people is not making the relationship public — keeping it as personal as it can be. It's the only way it is real. I am suspicious of those who have to let the world know how much they love each other. It's a little sad when you have to brag about how much you love someone. That kind of declaration doesn't always reflect the moment of truth between two people who care deeply for each other. When that truth is there, you don't need others to know it. And when somebody truly loves you, you don't even need him or her to be affectionate. Affection is fantastic, but it doesn't necessarily mean there's love — and the public display of affection is often just a show."

"When you open a door for others to have an opinion on your relationship, it can be dangerous. Find what you need, not what everyone else wants for you. Women have been taught that in order to have a place in the world, an identity, they must marry and have children. If that's the life you truly want, great. But for many women, marriage is only about needing the world to know that someone desires them enough to say, "Here's a contract to prove that I love you and will commit to you for the rest of my life." For these women, no contract equals no validation — and, thus, no reason for existing."

"It's nice to have a relationship, but women have become addicted. You can have a relationship with God. With nature. With dogs. With yourself. And yes, you can also have a relationship with a man, but if it's going to be a shitty one, it's better to have a relationship with your flowers. I know so many lonely women who are married! You have to know the worth of your existence regardless of a man, regardless of an emotional love affair, even regardless of a career. Why should these things validate you as a human being?"

"Every day, I define myself. I know who I am today. I don't promise you anything for tomorrow — we can have an interview and that's completely different! And you know what else? I am grateful to the bombshell because if it hadn't gotten me where it had gotten me, I wouldn't be where I am today. But this bombshell thing; it's old now. It served me. And I got out of it in time to keep from serving it. I used to think, I can't wait until 35, when people think I'm too old to be a bombshell. Maybe I'll get the good parts. But it wouldn't have happened that way. … Just because your boobs are saggy doesn't mean you get great roles. You're disposable."

"As important as it is for the producers to pay more attention to the female roles, it's more important for us to take control over this situation and define who we are. Because if they just give us the parts, it's their point of view of who we are. What's important is that we define who we are and don't wait for the men to give us the roles."

"I'm very lucky I didn't have it easy, because I've learned so much from having to figure out everything on my own and create things for myself. Now I can teach what I've learned to the next generation. I'm not just going to be the pretty face that disappears. I've learnt how to produce, to direct, to write. I'm not disposable so easily anymore. When I am 60, I can keep directing. I have the potential to really, truly have a voice that makes a difference."

"I wanted to win it for one specific reason — to send the Oscar to the Frida Kahlo House in Mexico, where Frida herself once lived. It's going to bring a tear to my eye now. I wanted every Mexican who walked into that museum to remember that what motivated me to make this movie, to dream this dream, had everything to do with where I came from — and I didn't stop dreaming until I finished the film. But the dream was the movie, not the Oscar."

"At night I wake up and think, What color will make me feel better when I soak in the bathtub for an hour? I want everyone who's dreaming of a glamorous life to know that I'd trade a good bath any day for the heels, the hair, the makeup, the tight dresses, the photographs, the small talk."

"Isn't it sad? In our world, women also don't support other women enough — how often do we really work together to make a difference? We are sometimes so vicious toward one another. We want to be independent women, but we really don't know who we are as women. It's about us taking control, because we tend to just blame. We complain about the world, but we are still not loving toward other women."

"Because there was no industry or parts for Latin women when I came here, there was really no competitiveness. Jennifer Lopez and I were the first, and I think Jennifer was my partner at the beginning. I think it was important for others to see two of us, because maybe then we could be thought of as a social phenomenon. Because she doesn't have a foreign accent, Jennifer tried out for parts I couldn't get. There are now others with accents — Penelope Cruz, Antonio Banderas — but mind you, Antonio and Penelope are from Europe, not Mexico. It's only now that the taboo on Mexicans is lifting as Americans realize we're a little bit more than migrant workers. I hear some Latinos say, "Oh, no, no, no, the cliché that we are gang members, that's so bad — we have to show everyone that we're family people." Hello? That's another cliché! It's getting yourself out of one box to put yourself in another. The way to fight a cliché is not by creating another one. What breaks the cliché is the emergence of strong individuals. That's the way to say, "You don't really know us — so when you look at me, or when you look at my sister, just be completely open for whatever. You have no clue who we are!" Here people don't know what box to put me into. I'm not from the Bronx, I'm not from East L.A., so they don't know how to take me or what to call me!"

"Everyone said how tormented directors can be. I've never enjoyed something so much in my life!"

"Ignorance in certain places frightens me. The political situation of the world frightens me. Political anger around the globe frightens me. The lack of love in the world frightens me. Violence frightens me."

"I want to direct a movie in Mexico, in Spanish. The story is about how when we're really young, our dreams are colorful and big and abstract and interesting and imaginative. As the realities of life hit, our dreams become so common. To dream big doesn't necessarily mean to imagine becoming the biggest movie star in the world. Dreaming big is about taking the simplest thing in life and enjoying it — and seeing it as the biggest thing that can possibly exist. … I work in an industry that is the first to kill this ability because everything is so celebrity oriented. I am part of a cancer. In my world, you have to be so beautiful, so skinny, so rich, so famous — and I don't believe you really have to be any of those things. You simply have to be who you are."

"Yes, I'm beautiful … I am beautiful and famous — and yet the things I like about myself have nothing to do with that, because I don't use wealth and beauty to define myself. People think I'm more beautiful than I am because they see me on magazine covers — but go to nearly any town, and you'd find prettier women. And though I'm well known now, I might not be famous one day —but I'd still be happy. I do have money, but I could be richer. I just don't want to pay the price some are willing to pay to have more money. I live in a small house. I'm not the glamour girl who wears makeup every day. I live a wonderful life, and I lack for nothing. Maybe that does make it easier for me to say, "Be who you are" — but I always tell people they shouldn't be too impressed with wealth and fame. They shouldn't worship it. I am in this machine, but I haven't completely given my soul to it."

"The whole society is obsessed.... I'm not complaining — I'm just saying, "Don't be too impressed with me. Don't try to dress like me or wear your hair like mine. Find your own style. Don't spend your savings trying to be someone else. You're not more important, smarter, or prettier because you wear a designer dress." I only wear the expensive clothes because I get them free and I'm too lazy to go out and look for my own. I, a rich girl from Mexico, came here with designer clothes. And one day when I was starving in an apartment in Los Angeles, I looked at my Chanel blouses and said, "If only I could pay the rent with one of these." … In those days, the rag I used to dry my dishes was more useful. Now many who start in this business come to me for advice and ask, "How do I get started?" And I have to say, "I honestly have no idea." I think it's a bunch of accidents that happen to you and somehow you survive them and take advantage of them and something magical happens — and you have an agent."

"I'm going to tell you something: There's an element to that passion that I always leave out and that I have recently learned to understand, and it has helped me a lot. … I was okay if it didn't happen. … I didn't realize this before. As long as I knew I did my very, very best, I was okay. I was so okay that when I made the transition from Mexico to Los Angeles, I said to myself I have something now. Is it what I want? No. I was making money, I was an actress, and I was famous. It looked like it's what I wanted, but it was not. And I was wise enough to recognize it. It's what others would think that I'd want, and sometimes that makes you feel it's good enough... To be able to brag a lot on life — that's everybody's dream... But is it your dream? And it wasn't my dream. And so I said that I'm going to leave it. This means I go there, and maybe it doesn't happen. And I am trading this, which looks like it's great, for this nothing that could be anything. … And then I was excited about being brave about it and saying, "What I left didn't grab me by the balls.""

"Salma Hayek and I come from two very different worlds: She was born privileged in a small town in Mexico; I was raised poor in rural Mississippi. On the day we meet in a hilltop garden at the J. Paul Getty Museum … I'm as surprised as anyone that our connection is so instant. Who would've thought we would have so much in common? I've interviewed hundreds of people over the years, and never has a conversation resonated so strongly with me. Salma is one of the most passionate and unforgettable young women I've ever met. You need only a few moments in Salma's presence to discover she's a woman set on defining herself — try to contain her in a box, and she'll lift off the lid, rise up, and just soar away every single time. … Her candor, her honesty, her boldness, her fire — it all made me want to be more truthful with myself. Her passion for life is positively infectious. Talk about going for it — this woman has got the "it" big time!"

"Why do grandparents and grandchildren get along so well? They have the same enemy—the mother."

"It took me years to figure out that you don't fall into a tub of butter, you jump for it."

"My real name is Trace Ullman, but I added the 'y.' My mother said it was spelled the American way, but I don't think she can spell! I always wanted a middle name. My mum used to tell me it was Mary but I never believed her. I looked on my birth certificate and I didn't have one, just Trace Ullman."

"I hated the pressure that many of the children were under. Many of the kids were forced to grow up too fast, their careers were being decided for them before they were 13. If I went to an audition then they'd always choose the sweetest, prettiest kid. I wasn't obviously beautiful so I used to miss out." Ullman has also alleged that the owners taught their own children and that a certain level of favouritism seemed to exist. She also felt that the education she was receiving was of very little value. "These stupid teachers would come in and go, 'Good morning, darlings, lets all be dustbins!' I'd go, 'Oh, shut up! I wanna be a banana!'"

"I never worked with a dialogue coach before, but I'd hate it if an American did a British accent and didn't do it well. It would be insulting."

"I love having a kid [...] They don’t let you think about yourself. [The one drawback of being a mum in America is that] Mabel wants Barbie, one of those bloody awful dolls. No vaginas, no nipples and they're bulimic. This is what femininity is? [...] Ever tried to assemble a Barbie barbecue stand? [...] Fortunately, Mabel already knows that Ken's just Mr. Barbie. She already cut his hair punk style. She knows that ... Ken's an idiot."

"I wouldn't do anything mean spirited. If it's in the wrong spirit, or if its not honest, then I wouldn't do it. It's got to honest. Otherwise, what's the point?"

"Some kids can play the piano or kick a football; I could just impersonate everyone."

"Every seven years or so I look around me and I want to look at the society and I want to try and be everyone I'm seeing in the world right now. [...] And I've done this all my life. I realized I used to do this in my mother's bedroom when I was 6. I used to be everyone in my village and everyone at school and everyone in the news, and I'm still doing that same show. I'm now 56. I think I can do it in my 80s. I'll just, you know, impersonate everyone around me then in the nursing home."

"There's real fear of aging in this country, which I don’t share. It seems to be an American nightmare, especially for women. There’s nothing worse than a woman trying to look like she did when she was 32 when she is 58. It’s like, “Have some dignity, guys—just go with it!”"

"I based my career from the very beginning on people like Maggie Smith, Judi Dench and Margaret Rutherford. I keep thinking Maggie and Judi are going to eventually not want those parts and I’m going to move up and take them (laughter). So, hopefully, I’ll be working in my 70s and 80s. You know, character actresses. I never had looks to lose. I could keep going—Meryl Streep and me."

"I have the sh*ttest birthday—the 30th of December! Can you imagine what that was like when I was a kid in England? It was the day before New Year’s Eve. It was horrific! My sister’s birthday is on the fourth of July. It was all about strawberries and dancing in the garden in summer dresses. Mine was like, “Don’t talk about it. It’s her birthday.” It was pitch-dark (laughter). Every one wrapped presents for me that they didn’t want from Christmas. It was a terrible time to have a birthday (laughter)!"

"The BBC said the only thing they didn’t like about the show was those weird little animated characters and suggested maybe they could get rid of them because they would never catch on."

"I really thought I was great when I did a quite serious soap opera for the BBC. I played a nice girl from St. John's Wood. 'Mummy, I think I'm pregnant. I don't know who's done it.' Then I would fall down a hill or something. 'EEEEE! Oh, no, lost another baby.' It seemed all I ever did was have miscarriages—or make yogurt."

"Dignity, girls! Ageing with dignity – that's the thing."

"American [comedy] was always stronger because you had Lucille Ball, you had Carol Burnett, you had Lily Tomlin, Gilda Radner. I came from a country where we just had Benny Hill girls. You had to run around in a bikini basically in the '80s in Britain. Then I did a sketch show and Pamela Stevenson and then (Dawn) French and (Jennifer) Saunders just shook it all up. But I grew up thinking I could be a character actress. I didn't think I could go into comedy."

"My face is a good one for doing impersonations. I’ve got small eyes, a low brow and a big head ... When I worked at the BBC in the 80s the only wigs that would fit me were Mike Yardwood's."

"I love John Waters. There's stuff in it that's beyond the boundaries of my taste, but his movies have always been like that."

"As I get older, I just prefer to knit."

"From an early age. I used to dress up and impersonate our next-door neighbor, Miss Cox. She wore rubber boots, a wool hat, and her nose always dripped. My father died when I was 6 and we were really sad, so I put on a show for my mum. [In a mocking American accent] Looking back now, it was a kind of therapy."

"I left school at 16 and went to Berlin and danced [...] West Berlin, 1976. It was amazing. I wish they hadn't taken the wall down. Now it's full of east Germans wearing Versace shirts."

"People think I'm a demented little pixie, but I'm not 'on' all the time. I'm sensible. I pay my bills. I've never done drugs. I don't drink or smoke. I eat organic. I'm a goody-goody, really, but I can play bad girls."

"I'm as famous as I want to be."

"I thought I'd end up in a Swiss sanitarium. It was brutally hard work. I could barely see my family."

"It's very therapeutic, what I do. Other people get this anonymity and thrill from being in an Internet chat room, where they can be anybody they want to be. That's the feeling I get, but to an even greater extent. I physically take on these characteristics. Afterwards, I feel I'm a parrot. I need a black bag put over my head until I become myself again."

"Working with the same people week after week brings out inspiration. You have to have an open discussion or you end up with actors saying fuck you to the writers and writers saying fuck you to the actors."

"Every character I do is based on someone I know. I try to justify every sketch we do. If it's not working, we find someone to talk to who it has happened to."

"What I fear most is that you will know where the laughs are going to come, or that you will know a character so well that you know when they're going to sing a song. In some shows, you just know that the audience is sitting there going "Oh no, she's going to sing.""

"They hold onto a small child who's hungry, then go back to their homes and feel good about themselves. That's how I perceive actors getting involved in politics and charities. They want even more attention for themselves, it's in their nature."

"Why does everyone think the future is space helmets, silver foil, and talking like computers, like a bad episode of Star Trek?"

"I was never a child. I was always a menopausal woman within a child's body."

"In 1976 I was sweet 16. Well, I was never sweet, but I was 16."

"You see, most people with multiple personalities get therapy. I get my own HBO comedy series!"

"Hollywood to me, I never get the real glamour and romance. I look at an old picture of Veronica Lake, you know, looking glamorous, and I just look at her and think, "Maybe she had her period that day.""

"Oh, yeah, she's that snippy little Brit girl who takes all the parts so no one else gets a crack at it."

"I'd stand in front of the mirror and talk to myself until I fell asleep, you know. I'd interview myself as women with problems, you know, like, women in documentaries who had three kids and chainsmoked and husbands in prison that hit them! I'd be in the mirror going, [lowers voice] yeah well, you know, it's not easy since Derrin went into prison. My eyes aren't black anymore, but the twins, Tilly and Wayne, you know, they don't stop crying. SHUT UP TILLY SHUT UP TILLY!"

"My mum went and married a really horrible horrible man, who drove a taxi at night and had a sticky-fingered son and he smoked cigars in the toilet. Smelled terrible! Again, there's no therapy, there's no counseling over the whole situation! Just married the maniac. And there was a new person in her bed now, and I couldn't do my nightly performance anymore. I was nine years old and my show had been canceled!"

"I thought, is this what it's all about? Do you have to be blonde and girly and have freckles and a snub-nose and sort of act the coquette in show business? WELL YES!"

"Everybody's [in Berlin] gay!"

"As we twirled and snapped our fingers, I felt light and airy and fancy-free. Of course I did, I had no bloody panties on! And the cartwheel lift's coming up! And I'm a brunette!"

"I don't use the G-word often because it's so overused. But as far as genius is concerned, I know only two for sure–Orson Welles and Tracey Ullman. She can do so many characters with such perfection. She can be poignant. She can be bizarre. And she is always hysterically funny."

"Tracey Ullman shot like a sparkler into my vision on the set of [1985 film] Plenty ... I thought I’d found my soulmate: a restless, silly, musical wild mimic, with a dark underlay of sangfroid. I loved her on sight. I was absolutely blackout-shocked to discover she was barely 23 years old (I was 33) and I still feel like her (slightly cowed and aspirant) little sister. She hasn’t changed in spirit or matter in all these years that we have remained close. I have no objectivity, clearly, but I am not alone in this assessment of her!"

"I've never met anyone who has less self-doubt than Tracey. She'll try anything in the world. She'll do anything you'll ask her to do. Anything. Because she's not protecting anything – she's not self-conscious, because her confidence in her ability to perform is extraordinary."

"I don't think there's anybody like her, and that's a big deal. If you insist, there are parallels to Peter Sellers, an actor who did brilliant sketch comedy."

"She's just brilliant–a bloodsucker of personalities. You walk away, and she's taken a little bit of your brain."

"Her talent is so compelling. It's like the French flag – you have to stop and salute."

"I choreographed Tracey on Three Of A Kind back in England and I believe that her success in America inspired so many of us Brits to believe we could also make a career for ourselves in that wonderful country."

"If Ruby [Wax] taught us how to write funny, then Tracey was a lesson in how to act funny. She was by far the most famous of us, having starred with Lenny Henry in Three of a Kind."

"She was a lovely, very innocent, phenomenally talented girl ... She was not aware of the quality she had. Her performance was so special that it was devastating to watch."

"Tracey Ullman was a huge turning point for me [...] It was so healing, because she ran a sane and wonderful room. She gave everything a shot and set an incredible example. She packed the room with old-school heavy hitters, and then we would go off and come back for one serious day of work per week. She had a wonderful family life and did everything right, and she’s just a stellar example and talent. My time with her was invaluable. I was the baby in the room, and they were lovely to me. I’ll always be grateful to Tracey."

"Tracey has given me a terrible reputation (laughs). She's very clever [...] I think she knows I'm a huge fan of hers. She's absolutely amazing. I'll give her a good slap when I see her (laughs)."

"Meeting Tracey Ullman and David Copperfield was life-altering. I learned so much. Three of a Kind was a brilliant experience. I stole as much as I could from Tracey Ullman – her characters were always based on truth."

"She had two little kids at home. There was trouble shooting that day and I remember her telling all of us 'I want to get home by or before dinner because otherwise, what’s the point?' [...] I watched her stop and price out how much it would cost to make a long catwalk or a roundabout for one scene. I watched her make all of these decisions. That was imprinted on me when I became a new mom. I watched Tracey write, direct, star, and showrun and do her character’s makeup and prosthetics, all in a one-day span. That was imprinted on me. I think she is the greatest."

"My private life has been the subject of much jabbering. Perhaps this slightly scandalous side of me people find entertaining! Before, being a model, it was just a job, and I was making fun of it. But today, I take my career more seriously. The fact that a reader may buy an Armani item because she’d seen it on me in a magazine is very important to me. So much so that I intend to launch my own label."

"I don’t at all want to resemble some of these young designers who ask hallucinating prices for rags that are so in fashion now, that six months later, they are old-fashioned! I love vintage boutiques, I love to customize my clothes. And then, with my friends, we regularly exchange togs."

"I remember, when we were still living in the Soviet Union, Mum would rush by like the wind in our apartment, covered with fur, or even running from one movie scene to the next, because she was a movie star there. Even if it was 40ºF outside, she always wore a miniskirt. For me, she was the most beautiful of all women."

"I was still a kid when I gave up modeling and moved to London to devote myself to music. At the time, I had a band. Two years later, broke, I was forced to return to New York to go back to modeling and earn my living. But, when I’d call my agent, she replied to me: "You are now an old-fashioned model, you have a 'has-been' look." In fact, I could not even manage to get castings. Can you imagine what it’s like when you’re told that you’re over at the age of 18?"

"Action films are definitely a lot of training and I do a lot of my own stunts, so I definitely am in there for the long haul for the training process. But I love it. Martial arts is something I’ve always loved doing. It’s the only form of exercise that I can deal with. Everything else is really boring and mind-numbing. So for me it’s just really fun. I love to sort of feel like a superhero in that sense, to be able to fly through the air and to be on wires. It just makes me feel like I’m in Magic Mountain or something. I love it."

"I had a really great time doing it. I haven’t seen the whole movie together with all the special effects, but even without the special effects I was like, "This is rad!" I loved it. I just was with the characters more. I don’t know, somehow I connected with the story better."

"I love infomercials. I’ve always thought that I could do a really good infomercial because I have a lot of great ideas with things. I just never actually have the time to patent them, like everybody else with great ideas. One person takes the time to do it and the rest of us to keep talking about it."

"Music for me is something I prefer to keep away form the whole business part of my life. I feel like everything I do, in a way, has some sort of business around it. So with my music I can have my privacy. If people don’t have to pay for it then I think they can be a little more open to new ideas."

"Hello, Pineapples!"

"Hello, Hotdog"

"(At Foozie’s birthday party on Friday, April 6, 1997) I got to the celebration early and pretty soon some friends pulled me into a back area and said “Perform something!” and there was this wig and dress lying there. I told them “Well, I don’t do that sort of thing. I don’t dress like a woman…” While they were trying to talk me into it another friend ran in and yelled “Do something and I mean fast! There are over four hundred people out there! You’d better hurry up Foozie!” I was dumbfounded, four hundred people!? So, I thought why not and replied, “That’s Miss Foozie to you!” and that’s how it all started."

"I love people, it doesn’t matter their color, nationality, sexual orientation, whatever. We all live here on the same planet. I also don’t like this good looking/bad looking thing. Who cares? Just because you don’t have looks doesn’t mean you aren’t pretty inside."

"My first time was all about who is the top and who is the bottom. That took five minutes."

"I was (...) determined to look the way I wanted to look, and I wanted to cut my hair. I wanted to look different because I was used to looking different. Because of my religious background I'd always been encouraged to look different."

"I don't believe in marriage. To take these vows that were set up decades ago – it just doesn't work anymore. Most people don't think about what they're saying when they vow to cherish, love and obey. Marriage was designed to give males the advantage. (...) Unless you have to do it for tax reasons, or to get a loan or something. But basically it's a contract that I don't think should be connected with a romantic situation."

"[M]en need to be penetrated. At least once in their lifetime. Because then they would understand what it is like to receive. It’s my own theory, which I think could help take some of the aggression out of the world. It's the nature of man to give and receive – to be man and woman, all in one."

"I was born in Judaism, and have adhered to it through all my erratic career. Through that pure and simple religion I have found greatest comfort and blessing."

"She is a sensitive poet who, unfortunately, cannot write."

"Quotations: I love them because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognizedly wiser than oneself."

"Sex: In America an obsession. In other parts of the world a fact."

"Forgiveness: Once a woman has forgiven her man, she must not reheat his sins for breakfast."

"Most women set out to try to change a man, and when they have changed him they do not like him."

"Dahlink, the legs aren't so beautiful. I just know what to do with them."

"There’s something about an American soldier you can’t explain. It's a quality... They’re so grateful, so heartbreakingly grateful for anything, even a film actress coming to see them. They say thank you for coming, and they really mean it."

"Jungs! Opfert euch nicht! Der krieg ist doch scheiße, Hitler ist ein idiot! (message in a pro-allied propaganda broadcast) Translation: Boy! Do not sacrifice yourself! The war is but shit, Hitler is an idiot!"

"America took me into her bosom when there was no longer a country worthy of the name, but in my heart I am German – German in my soul."

"The Germans and I no longer speak the same language."

"She is brave, beautiful, loyal, kind and generous. She is never boring and is as lovely looking in a GI shirt, pants and combat boots as she is at night or on the screen. She has an honesty and a comic and tragic sense of life that never let her be truly happy unless she loves. When she loves she can joke about it; but it is gallows humor."

"Marlene Dietrich is a professional – a professional actress, a professional dress designer, a professional cameraman."

"One of the things about her that astonished me the most was her knowledge of the technical side of motion pictures. She seemed to know everything. She constantly watched the camera and the lighting, and she would politely superintend, make suggestions to the cameraman and gaffers so subtly and so sexily that no one was offended, and she got precisely what she wanted. (I didn't mind.; what possible difference could it make which side of my face was photographed? Both sides were equally homely.) She was one of the first actresses I ever knew to have her own makeup table and mirror placed in the same lights in which she would have to play—a trick she told me Von Sternberg had taught her. Between takes she was constantly in front of the mirror, adjusting her hair and her makeup, and the instant the director called her, she was ready."

"Hitler was a good man and it takes some f---ing balls for someone to say this out loud this day and age, especially for a public figure like myself, but you know what? SOMEONE NEEDS TO SPEAK THE TRUTH WITHOUT FEAR! Otherwise the dark cabal who currently control the world and all of the world bankers will continue to feed you their lies, feed off your emotions, take advantage of your emotions and will continue to keep you THEIR SLAVE!"

"AMERICA IS FALLING AT THE MOMENT YET I DO NOT SEE ANYONE IN OFFICE *AHEM* THAT IS BRAVE ENOUGH TO SAVE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE LIKE HITLER WAS WILLING TO SAVE THE GERMAN PEOPLE!"

"Anytime the western countries go to war in the Middle East, it becomes a religious war."

"The recognition and acceptance of a genocide, and mass murder of nations is not to merely point a finger at a tyrant guilty of those crimes. It is acceptance of facts and truths with the ultimate goal to mend bridges between the races. It is not to merely condemn but to create the first step towards world peace."

"When we perpetually allow the practice of genocide and holocaust and consent to the denial of such actions to linger for decades as in the case of the Assyrian, Armenian and Pontic Greek Genocides, we are in essence consenting to denial as a compromise. Denial is not compromise."

"Iraq's 'liberation' has become the 'oppression' of Assyrians."

"I may not have a country with boundaries, but my country is in me. My country is in my soul and in my heart. I am Assyria."

"As quoted in The Crimson Field."

"I am an Assyrian. That is not negotiable."

"I have always been interested in the occult, but during the filming of The Mummy I had to keep such things private, especially in those days. I used the occult auto-suggestively…I mean, before I would play a scene I would get into the spirit, so to speak, with certain prayers. As a child my father gave me an Ouija board and soon I started to get messages, then I moved towards the Tarot. By the time I was in Basil Sidney’s company I was asked to read cards all the time for the other players, and Basil himself depended on what I saw in those cards."

"To me, the theatre was related to the spirit. Before every performance I sat alone in my dressing-room, said my prayers, died unto myself and became my character."

"The moguls created stars and sold them to the public, the way a grocer sold a 39-cent can of tomatoes to his shoppers."

"It turns out that the famous 1920's/30's/40's actress, Zita Johann, is a Cousin of mine! Zita's Mother and my Great Grandmother's Mother were first cousins, so she is my 2nd cousin twice removed to be exact and you can see how it all links together here. There is a likeness, as you can see."

"Acting has been a journey of self-discovery for me. It is the most fulfilling thing I know. It is also terrifying, and painfully awkward. But for me there is no better feeling that truthfully living in a moment, under completely imaginative circumstances. There is also nothing more devastating than walking out of an audition knowing that you were “acting” and not simply being. I feel like a fraud most of the time, but then you have these magical moments when you really feel and it is those moments that make it all worthwhile. It’s a high like nothing I have ever experienced. Acting is the most paradoxical of crafts – you have to learn it, practice obsessively and then throw it all away. Its like walking on a tightrope, there is a very thin line between passion and technique and you have to find the perfect balance. I think it’s a very personal and private art."

"As for working in both industries I think Thai and American cultures are so vastly different there are bound to be misunderstandings on set but I feel very lucky to have a good grasp on both, although since moving to America I definitely feel more westernized. The highly competitive cut throat world of Hollywood has made me a much stronger more committed actress and person."

"[Receiving an anonymous email about animals getting skinned alive for fur] made me furious, and angry and depressed. I was an animal lover my whole life, but I never realized that humans beings were capable of such cruelty. … It was a huge wake-up call for me, and I knew I had to get involved, so I dedicated my life basically to being a voice for animals because they're voiceless and defenseless. … If you're an animal lover, just try to educate your friends and be a voice. Always try to find products that are not tested on animals and stay away from fur. … It's amazing how powerful social media can be – animals can be saved just because people share info and care. It's all about being active and just trying to make the world a better place."

"I was on cloud nine all the time. After I made my hit in Salome, Universal sent me to New York so I could learn to be a proper movie star. I lived at the Sherry‐Netherland for two months and I went to the John Robert Powers school. They taught me things like how to walk off a New York curb and how to enter a room in a manner befitting a big‐time movie star."

"They also tried to teach me how to eat. One day the big boss came into town and took me to dinner. I knew why he was taking me to dinner; he wanted to watch me eat. I was so nervous that when I started to lift my soup spoon to my mouth, my hand shook so much that I had to put the spoon down again. I couldn't eat soup for a whole year after that."

"We had dinner with Duke Wayne and his wife recently. He's really worried about the picture industry and how much harm it's done. And he isn't just making casual conversation, either. Duke is very concerned."

"I'm from Hollywood. I'm too dumb to be nervous about New York."

"You want to know about the title, right. The most beautiful girl in the world. . . It was a straight publicity thing but it ballooned. Of course, I never could wear blue jeans to the market after that. I had a reputation to uphold."

"I played so many oriental princesses and cowtown saloon madams after that I lost count. I broke in all the new actors, to use a phrase. I acted with Rock Hudson and Tony Curtis before they became big names."

"Baby, I've never been drunk in public and I never run around with men half my age. The dames I started out with are all batty today. They had their looks and nothing more and now they think they're finished."

"Reality to me is a home, my kids, best friends and only then a career and the limelight. I never thought like Marilyn Monroe that I was washed up when I was 35."

"One critic called me one of the most magnificent resources Canada has allowed to escape to the United States. Because I was born and raised in Vancouver and lived up there until I was 17. My kids sons Bruce and Michael are, of course, American citizens. But not me. I defiantly refuse to change."

"My mother was the shaping force in my life. Don't ask me how but she always had money for my dancing lessons. She was convinced I was going to be somebody."

"I think Yvonne De Carlo was more famous than Lily. But I gained the younger audience through The Munsters. And it was a steady job."

"I enjoyed being in The Ten Commandments. That was a great experience—to suddenly become one of those holy people. I was holier than thou."

"I enjoyed the comedies with Alec Guinness, and I had a real great time with Peter Ustinov in Hotel Sahara. I found I had the ability to do comedy. My timing was really inborn."

"Miss De Carlo photographs beautifully in color and in black and white film. She is a fine actress, an excellent dancer and singer. It is very unusual to find so much talent in one person."

"Early one morning she answered the telephone. . . . "Yvonne?" asked the voice on the other end of the phone. It was her agent. "You know about Ten Commandments, don’t you?" "Know what?" she asked. Of course, she knew about the picture. Everyone in town did. "What about it?" she asked. "Great news," the voice sounded breathless. "The part of Sephora—Moses' wife. Until today, that part was wide open. Not any more. Guess who’s got it? You! DeMille wants De Carlo!" Not until weeks later, in conversations with Mr. DeMille, did Yvonne find out how, without asking, she had won this important role. DeMille was in the process of casting and was considering Nina Foch for the role of Moses' Egyptian foster mother. Miss Foch's agent suggested that he see an earlier Foch movie called Sombrero. A date was set and DeMille, with a few of his staff, was shown the film in the studio screening room. Foch was fine, he commented to an assistant. "Cast her." And he started to rise to return to his office. Suddenly, looking up he saw a tormented, sadly beautiful face, veiled in a Mexican shawl, flash upon the screen. Sinking back into his chair, he watched the scene through. When it was over, he had reached another decision. "Get me that face," he ordered. "That’s Sephora.""

"It's fitting that Yvonne ends up as a star on the very lot where she started as an extra. Audiences will now see her as the really fine actress she is."

"I cast Yvonne De Carlo as Sephora, the wife of Moses, after our casting director, Bert McKay called my attention to one scene she played in Sombrero, which was a picture far removed in theme from The Ten Commandments, I sensed in her a depth, an emotional power, a womanly strength which the part of Sephora needed, and which she gave it."

"Oh, how I loved the movies as a little girl. Particularly I loved Yvonne De Carlo—she was my favorite. Others, too, like Rita Hayworth, but I used to dream that I was Yvonne De Carlo. And I liked that little one—what was her name?—June Allyson, too. But for me there was only one Yvonne De Carlo."

"I remember Yvonne with very warm and positive feelings. There was a warmth and sexiness which came out in everything she did, and that is what was irresistible to audiences. Like most top actresses, she needed direction and support, but her objective was always to be equal to the stars around her, especially the males."

"[A year after going vegetarian] I feel really healthy, and it works on so many different levels, including the condition of my skin."

"Animals shouldn't be used, tortured in any kind of way. … So what I would say to my fans is to … get more information about it because anyone that has a heart will have compassion towards them. And just change your thought process, and in changing that, we might change the whole world."

"I’m Cuban, so we grew up eating meat. But I didn’t like it. I’d say, ‘Rice and black beans is just fine with me.’ But my mother, you know, would say, ‘Tu estas muy flaca!’ Then one day I saw my dad kill a chicken and ever since then I was grossed out by chicken."

"It is the responsibility of each of us—every man, woman, and child on this planet—to try to lessen the total amount of suffering in our world. … Speciesism, like racism, is a learned attitude, and both can be unlearned."

"I was raised Vegan since birth. … I remember watching undercover investigation videos and reading the pamphlets that were mailed to the house when we were kids—I felt deeply for the animals at an early age. I remember how the other parents of my childhood friends would either get upset or interested when their kids would come home after sleepovers at my house—I felt it was my duty to show my friends what was happening to animals. … Veganism is the ultimate form of compassion. … I never considered my being Vegan was for health reasons—it was always for the love and respect I had for animals. And because of that love and respect I have for non-human animals my compassion flows over to all living beings, of all types. … I am encouraged by compassionate souls and the love I see in the eyes of those I've committed my life to stand up for."

"I’ve only known a vegan life and have been constantly teaching others of the joys and benefits of being a vegan … As an adult, I THANK my Mother profusely for being extremely honest with me as a kid and for never hiding the truth about milk, “meat”, animal experimentation … There is speciesism and that is about as cruel as it gets because it sets the stage and practice for cruelty amongst human beings. … Discrimination is discrimination—as abuse is abuse … regardless of an animals human or nonhuman form, gender, ethnicity, ability, sexual orientation or level of intelligence/knowledge it should be our birthright to LIVE our lives peacefully and harmoniously without inflicting pain on others. People who inflict intentional pain without moral or ethical regard for other human or nonhuman animals are just reminders of how much further we have to go until oppression is completely eradicated."

"It’s quite simple, all who have worked with known predators should do 3 simple things. 1) Believe survivors 2) Apologize for putting your careers and wallets before what was right. 3) Grab a spine and denounce. If you do not do these things you are still moral cowards."

"I got to know Asia Argento ten months ago. Our commonality is the shared pain of being assaulted by Harvey Weinstein. My heart is broken. I will continue my work on behalf of victims everywhere. None of us know the truth of the situation and I’m sure more will be revealed. Be gentle."

"I never said #MeToo is a lie. Ever. I was talking about Hollywood and Time’s Up, not #MeToo. Ugh. I’m so tired of erroneous sh*tstorms. #MeToo is about survivors and their experiences, that cannot be taken away."

"I just think they’re douchebags. They’re not champions. I just think they’re losers. I don’t like them. How do I explain the fact that I got a GQ Man of the Year award and no women’s magazines and no women’s organisations have supported me?"

"Trained chauvinists. When they get together, they talk about pussy. I heard them talk, and there was no genuine intimacy. When I first met them, I thought they were such macho boobs. Then I got to know some of them separately, in a way they won’t reveal to each other, and they were totally different human beings. Women with any wisdom look at men doing that macho number and are embarrassed for the guys. We know it’s bullshit, that it comes out of insecurity. They just don’t know we know."

"A lot of women sit around going, ‘We’re so oppressed by men, look what they’ve done to us!’ And you end up with a fucking Sylvia Plath, with her martyred little stupid head in the oven. This one night I was really depressed, and I thought, ‘Sylvia Plath in Malibu!’ So I said to myself, ‘Stop sitting around feeling sorry for yourself, Kidder. Smarten up and take the next step….’ Self-pity is a bore."

"A man is just another thing that needs time, and giving, and I don’t have it in me at this point in my life. Strangely, I think I have to be alone to be myself. That’s a paradox, and something else I can’t face, because I love men, and I love sex. Sex is the one place where I feel safe, where I feel I can get together with men."

"Listen, I’ve never done anything in moderation in my life. I’ve always been addicted to excess. I mean, this whole concept of moderation is something I yearn for."

"I'm not choosy at all! I'll do practically anything. I'm the biggest whore on the block. I live in a little town in Montana, and you have to drag me out of here to get to L.A., so I'm not readily available. But unless it's something sexist or cruel, I just love to work. I've done all sorts of things, but you just haven't seen them because they're often very bad and shown at 4 in the morning."

"I really don’t like the practice of outing people who haven’t outed themselves. It’s horrendously cruel and insensitive to that particular person’s own needs. The fragility of the human heart is something that we need to start respecting, and so to out someone who doesn’t want to be outed is unnecessary. There are groups who believe they should out famous people, and I find it so small. With political activism, there are many ways to achieve your goals. The trick is to get to the top of the mountain; it’s not how you get there."

"Discrimination takes many forms, and if you look at the root of it, it’s fear, envy, jealousy, and a lot of ugly, petty emotions."

"I wouldn’t want to wear my dog’s fur, so why would I want to wear fox fur or just any [other] type of fur? ... If you wear real fur, you're … glorifying the fact that animals are getting skinned alive and are getting electrocuted every single day. … I try to stay away from fur altogether, and if I do pick something that has fur, I make sure that it’s 100 percent fake fur."

"A lot of people do not know that you can say no when it comes to dissecting animals in schools. So please speak up. Say no. It’s disgusting. Save an animal’s life. ... I think it’s so important to just know that animals are just absolutely incredible. And frogs are so adorable. They have families, too. They have feelings. Save a frog. Please."

"My own ancestors. I come from poor, landless peasants who left no records. And so I began to read the story of Puerto Rico, and the more I read the story the more I realized I would never find my own ancestors, but I could make my imaginary ancestors. And so the book emerges as a result of my trying to create them, to create the people that might have been."

"At a certain point, I gave up on the idea that I’m not enough for other people…You are enough for you if you believe that you are enough for you. Whatever they say — you’re not Latina enough, or feminine enough or smart enough, you know ... just say ‘fuck you.’ That’s their problem."

"I thought, 'I have been through this process before’…When I was 13 years old I came from Puerto Rico to the United States not knowing any English. What I did at that time was I went to the public library, and I would go to the children’s book section where there would be alphabet books and everything would be illustrated. So it was very easy to connect the words to the images. I said, ‘I’m just going to do the same thing. If I did it once before, I can do it again.’"

"How can you know what you're capable of if you don't embrace the unknown?"

"“I learned you pay for your happiness. That's why I don't expect to be happy all the time. I'd rather be surprised by one moment every so often to remind me that joy is possible, even if I have to pay for it later.”"

"“I didn’t leave Puerto Rico. A mí me sacaron,” she tells me, referring to her exodus from Puerto Rico as a girl from San Juan. “I think nobody would prefer to leave that way.”"

"Edmaris Carazo, who the author says is one of her favorite talents from Puerto Rico at the moment...For Santiago, the impetus to develop a new tradition of Puerto Rican authors comes from her beginnings in literature, back in her childhood when she spent time in the backyard of a family member’s house in el campo. There, she listened to relatives tell trovas – oral tradition in rhyme. She also credits her dad’s love for poetry and Puerto Rican authors Julia de Burgos, Manuel Alonso, and Luis Palés Matos with sparking her interest."

"Through her work, she has shown a remarkable commitment to maintaining the stories of Puerto Rico in boricua hands. “If we preserve our stories, then they belong to us,” she says."

"For me, the person I was becoming when we left was erased, and another one was created."

"I wondered if men ever talked like this, if their sorrows ever spilled into these secret cadences."

"What doesn't kill you, makes you fat."

"(What books or authors have most inspired you? What books did you read while working on Ordinary Girls?) JD: Definitely Esmeralda Santiago’s When I Was Puerto Rican. It was one of the very first times I saw myself in a book written in English. Before then, to me, it seemed like Puerto Ricans didn’t even exist in American publishing. As a kid, I went to the library and everything the librarian handed me were books written by white people about white people — mostly by white men. When I Was Puerto Rican still feels relevant and iconic for me."

"Esmeralda Santiago has defined the literature of the Puerto Rican diaspora."

"It got me roles. And you know, for a while, that was wonderful — I was in the movies. But after a while I began to understand that it was really very demeaning. And I began to feel more and more and more diminished. I was already very unsure of myself anyway, because when I was a very young girl in New York City I ran into an awful lot of racial bias, and I got called some pretty nasty names, like 'spic' and — all the words you heard in West Side Story came directly from the streets — 'garlic mouth,' 'pierced ear.' So by the time I was doing those kind of roles — for a living, practically, in Hollywood — I was beginning to feel pretty bad about myself."

"If you have been traumatised from the time you were a child to believe you were a ‘spic’, that you were a garlic-mouth, that you are not worthy, it takes a long time to get rid of that. That’s why therapy so often takes so long, because you’re trying to get rid of that trash before you can deal with the you that wants to get better. I went into therapy wanting to get better, knowing that in some way I had a sickness. And the sickness was Rita hates Rita."

"I think that some people are genetically just strong. I really believe that my mom was like that. On the other hand, maybe you're forced to be that way because you realize you're either going to sink or swim, and the choice you make determines the kind of person you become…"

"I was told I was crying all the time I was unconscious…It wasn’t done for drama, that’s for sure. What I really wanted to do was kill the bad Rita who was always getting me in trouble, but it turned out if you’re going to kill the bad Rita, you’re also going to kill the good one."

"What I say to my gente [people] is to hang on, and to remember who they are, be proud of who they are, and keep talking. And keep complaining, and just don't ever — don't give up. That's always been my motto anyway. My motto has always been "persevere" — perseverancia. And that's what we need to do."

"I think part of the reason is because, unlike the black community, we don’t mainly come from America. We come from all kinds of countries and we’ve siloed ourselves rather than supporting each other, as we should have. We still think of ourselves as Argentinian or Puerto Rican or Mexican rather than Hispanic. Until we get over that and become one big wonderful community, we’re still going to have problems."

"You are perceiving that Rita Moreno I presented to the world. What was I gonna do, say: ‘Really, I’m a weak person’? No, that was the persona. I am now that person, but it took me a very, very long time to become her."

"I've always had this image of this strong, sprightly person who is undaunted by anything; on the contrary, I was one of the shyest, most unsure people you ever met in your life. But I have one very specific quality: I'm plucky. I really am. I would say that's a perfect description of my personality. I am able to get up and dust myself off and keep moving forward. I'm very stubborn. I never knew that about myself. But I realize how stubborn I am when I look at all the terrible things that happened to me and how I just get up and keep going."

"It was my choice, because I was being offered such crappy stuff. I was only offered gang movies on a way lesser scale and it was like the same fucking battle again. I couldn’t believe it. And it broke my heart. It. Absolutely. Broke. My. Heart. I thought: ‘I’ll wait for something better,’ and something better kept not coming. It was horrific."

"He didn’t like the raucous side of me and I love that side of me. I think I’m funny as hell and I think I’m cute and I think I’m mischievous. I know I’m mischievous. And that’s the kind of thing he discouraged, and that makes me very sad, because he was missing out on something pretty wonderful about me…You know, I think I owe an enormous debt to psychotherapy. Without that, I wouldn’t be the Rita you know and love."

"I have a great sense of humor about aging, and I think I’m one of the funniest people I know when it comes to aging, because I misplace stuff and I drive everyone crazy looking for the house keys or something. Once, I couldn’t find my purse, and I upended the car, upended the house. I could not find that fucking purse. And then two days ago, I opened the cabinet in the kitchen where all the doggie stuff is, and guess what? I had put it in there. I started laughing so hard, I nearly peed. I couldn’t stop laughing. I thought, You silly bitch."

"The first time I saw myself on a movie screen, I was disappointed because I didn’t look outrageously beautiful. It’s not that I looked ugly. It’s just that I had these funny notions of how you’re supposed to look when you’re in the movies. You’re supposed to look like Elizabeth Taylor, who was my idol. Guess what? I didn’t look like her. And my voice sounded very high, which indeed it was. So I was thrilled and at the same time, I was somewhat disappointed. But I thought, I can work on my voice. I can make that better."

"It never occurred to me when I was 10 years old that I was going to end up representing an entire—not just community, but nationality. That’s not something I ever thought of, because I wasn’t a political person then. But I was forced to become one because of the circumstances. At some point, I discovered that a lot of people were suffering unnecessarily. I really started to understand that everyone has a responsibility to others and to a community, that you are not the only person in the world you simply represent, whether you like it or not."

"I’m the most peaceful when I go to Hawaii because I fit in there as a biracial or “hapa” person. No one there questions my Asian-ness, and in fact, I feel my ethnicity is embraced and accepted…"

"In any professional setting, I’m a fish out of water on many levels, not just racially and culturally but also in the work I do, which involves many artistic disciplines…"

"While I’m proud to take risks artistically in my work, at the same time, I’ve had older generations of Taiwanese and Taiwanese Americans who have chastised me for peddling (a phrase I hate) “pain-porn” because I have told my mom’s war-torn story. What a hurtful thing to say to someone who is speaking from the heart and basically laying out the facts of a person’s life. I’ve also had white Americans shaking their fingers at me saying “You’re a bad daughter!”…"

"I have to say though it’s made it easier for white people to seek me out because I am half-white to ask me what they would be afraid to ask a mono-racial Asian American. I generally have intriguing, sometimes difficult, conversations with people about race…"

"I can only speak for myself, but as an actor i wasn’t like, “I’m going to challenge the way people see Latin people.” I was just happy to get roles. I tried to find new material in characters, but I wasn’t post-race about it or anything like that. I was just looking at it as just work. I wasn’t framing myself, so I wasn’t framing characters. Now I see the importance of playing [certain types of] characters. I’m not necessarily choosing characters that go against stereotypes, I’m choosing characters that you don’t even have time to question where they would fit in. Or what box they would fit into."

"I wish that more young people, especially less affluent people of color, would realize that we’ve been making stories forever, we’ve been creating rich characters. If we can ignore the pressure to tell a story the way “they” want to hear it and just tell it the way it is, we’ll continue to grow in the industry and have greater power."

"I think this is part of the female gaze…We are used to being watched, so why not watch ourselves, and why not enjoy it? Watching each other, excluding the visage of men—I can enjoy my sexuality."

"I know what they’re thinking. ‘You’re clearly queer, you’re dressed like a child, you have tattoos.’ They have this impression that a person that looks like me…I try not to be like ‘You’re fucking racist!’ or whatever, but they’re probably thinking, There’s no way you belong on the screen. And I’m so happy to shatter that forever."

"…more than half the struggle is putting the pencil to the paper and trusting. If trust is too hard right now, know that page is the one place where you can always go back and use your eraser."

"It’s a text and movement conjuring of Latina archetypes and the women who embody them— past, present, and future. There are archetypes/stereotypes that are often placed upon Latinas (i.e. La Virgen, La Llorona, hot tempered, sexy, etc.) and I wanted to know what happens if the images we think we understand are, in fact, more complicated and more human than we thought? And then what happens if those “images” not only talk to us, but each other too?..."

"…For acting, I have no other place to begin besides my body, history, memories, and cultural points of reference. In my process, I’m my foundation and then the research, and additional character development gets layered on top. For writing, I admit I’ve got an agenda and I start from what I know—me…"

"Don’t let anyone “should” all over you and don’t “should” all over yourself. Writers: nobody knows the story you want to tell better than you do. You get to decide what feedback serves you and the rest of it you can leave behind…"

"I was just walking across the street . . . this guy [a porn producer] stops and he gets out his car and he gives me his card, and I thought about it for about two weeks. Then you made the mistake of saying yes and going in and . . . yeah, I did it for about three months, and as soon as I started to gain popularity, that's when I was like, "OK I need to get the F out of here, this is not what I was trying to do whatsoever." I just wanted to let loose and rebel."

"Women's rights in Lebanon are a long way from being taken seriously if a Lebanese American porn star that no longer resides there can cause such an uproar. What I once boasted to people as being the most Westernized nation in the Middle East, I now see as devastatingly archaic and oppressed."

"It all started to spiral out of control when the death threats from ISIS started coming in. That's when I stepped away. As soon as I started to gain popularity that's when I was like 'get the f*** out of this."

"It gets me so down when I get 'no's' from companies who don't want to work with me because of my past, but I also thought I would never find a man like my fiancé. The fact that he appreciated everything I've done since porn meant so much."

"Perhaps better known as 'The hijab porn star', Khalifa hit the headlines in 2014 when she infamously humped on camera wearing the traditional Muslim garb. The BangBros film initially sparked outrage in her home country of Lebanon with haters claiming she had brought disgrace to the nation and insulted Islam. Khalifa stated in an interview with Loaded that she felt she is being made a scapegoat for internet censorship in her native land, and many others there have since demonstrated against the government, showing support for the American porn star. They claim that although she may have sex, 'She is still more decent than they are'."

"…When you have that sort of background, being an actor in Hollywood is like the wildest, most far-fetched occupation that you can think of and I kind of fell into acting because I was initially interested in writing when I was younger and I went to college initially thinking that I was gonna major in creative writing and that didn’t work out. I ended up studying film instead because I thought it was also another form of storytelling…"

"… it is a character that is potentially provocative, but I don’t think that it was intended that way. That comes in with whatever baggage the audience brings in to the movie-viewing experience… There have been so many other movies where an Asian character has been under-served or just been sort of a background character…"

"…as an actor, I never am attracted to just playing a physicality or a bit – just having a disability or an accent or something isn’t attractive to be because it can kind of be like a party trick. When you’re dealing with a character who’s disabled, that’s somebody’s life. That’s somebody’s reality, so you need to treat it with a lot of respect and profundity and not to turn it in to a gimmick, like a ‘bit’..."

"The most important thing was making sure she came across as a human being. We can all have many different sides, some that ask more of you in terms of identity than others. For me, I didn’t want her accent or her disability to be the most interesting things about her, but I did look into some real life female activists and took a lot of inspiration from those amazing women. I was also inspired by Flannery O’Connor; I grew up in Louisiana and you would always see pictures of her with her canes, as she suffered from Lupus, but continued doing amazing work."

"You laugh a lot on a horror film. Because you get strangled, and someone yells “cut” and everyone starts laughing on the set. But comedy, it’s different because everyone is trying to figure out what is going to get the most laughs so when someone yells cut there’s a lot of “well, maybe this would be funnier” or “the stunt guys didn’t laugh that hard that time, so let’s try something else.” It’s very different."

"There are two different groups of fans. Those who come to the horror conventions are obsessed with Halloween and Carrie. The most surprising thing for them is they look at my other pictures and say, "oh yeah, you were in Stripes!" A lot of them know I was in all those films, but a lot of them don’t know. If I just meet someone on the street, or their head turns at a check-out line, they usually say, "did I go to high school with you?""

"For me, if you are a unique singer-songwriter, just go somewhere and play. Play in a club, coffee shop, the street, just get out there and play. There is nothing like the experience of being in front of people, getting them to watch you play live, and receiving feedback. All that is so important. Recording yourself in a bedroom and putting it on YouTube is just not going to get you a record deal. Although, there is always that story where it does because they have three million views. Then you have to back it up with your talent, and you have to have the experience."

"It was a project for those who believed in us, a movement that started in the streets and out of poverty, humility and esteeming those who are viewed a less."

"I worked with kids at risk to help them get back in school and stay out of trouble."

"I wanted to start an artistic revolution to empower our neighborhood and people."

"It is a La Raza effort, the city and the people made this story happen."

"I’ve kicked six stuntmen in the bollocks, hit someone over the back with a lead pipe and launched an iron chair at an assistant director. All completely by accident. When it comes to stunts I have a lot of confidence and little skill."

"I really think as long as you have a good story that relates to a lot of people it doesn't matter what ethnicity it is."

"The whole reason why we’re in this business is to please our fans. When I go to conventions, I see the reactions of women and men alike, and some girls actually shake and cry when they tell me stories about how much Mulan has influenced their lives and had such a strong impact in their lives. It’s profoundly moving for me. So I think it is important to not just gain new fans with the live-action adaptation, but really pay tribute to the fans that have been around for so long with the film and now have passed it on down to their kids and their families."

"I think, definitely with this business, it was part luck, part timing, and maybe some destiny. I think we’re all destined for something. So I’m just very grateful, I’m always extremely grateful for any job that comes along and any dreams that can come true. Because it’s a really tough business, especially if you’re a woman, and especially if you’re an ethnic woman, and especially now, if you’re an older woman. So I’m always very, very grateful."

"Being Buddhist, I do believe we are reincarnated. Our spirit goes back into the celestial forces and we come back based on how well we’ve treated others — whether we come back better or in worse forms."

"I was a nerd! I was president of my science fiction club. Doesn’t get any nerdier than that. I took Latin — that’s pretty nerdy. And theater. I was a trainer for our football team. I got into the boy’s locker room that way, ha! I loved being in high school. I had a boyfriend all through high school. I was friends with all different kids in different clubs. A floater!"

"I used to pray to god, Buddha, and the Force because that’s how much a belief it was for me. It was a religious experience for me. No small thing! No small connection there… I’ve been part of the [fandom] family for so many decades that now to actually be in the family is pretty crazy."

"I'm not one of those actresses that's going to feel like I never achieved my dreams and goals and just get disgruntled and hate everything about the business. I've had so much fun."

"That's what was so amazing about Mulan. Here is this story with all Chinese characters, and yet so many people related to her character and loved the story. So I really think as long as you have a good story that relates to a lot of people, it doesn't matter what ethnicity it is."

"Mom takes all the credit for my success. Now Mom says, 'I read your face when you were a baby, and it said you were going to be a star. That's why I named you Ming - because it's all about the sun and the stars and enlightenment.'"

"I love doing TV. It's so great for my world as a mom, as someone who likes to have a steady job and go to work feeling secure because I'm with a family."

"When you get to do a one-shot, the whole world is open to you. It’s almost harder to decide what story to tell when you have the freedom to do anything you want!"

"For me, the story always comes from character whether they're ponies or robots or aliens."

"It’s really thrilling to teach somebody all the different things I’ve learned in the past and that I can cull from my own experiences. I’m fortunate to be able to do what I wanted to do most of my life."

"I had a good experience overall. There were a couple of famous Hollywood people who tried to take advantage of me – I’m not mentioning any names! I was around 16 and I knew it was wrong, so I stood up for myself."

"People always criticize. If they want to, they will find something to criticize. Hey, we all criticize. You like a film or you don’t. It’s up to you. You can’t stop that anyway. That’s part of human nature"

"She was everything that I imagined her to be when I was a young girl growing up, idolizing her, she's elegant, and beautiful, and just incredibly generous."

"A lot challenges me! Not psyching myself out, not doubting myself, not comparing myself to others... all of that challenges me. But inevitably, challenges are put into our lives so that we may grow and become the best version of who we are meant to be."

"I love educating myself on different cultures' dishes and foods that are important and celebrated within that culture. I also think food brings people together. It's unifying!"

"No one writes each other letters anymore, but I think there's something so special about receiving a really heartfelt letter, still."

"When you're the only woman of color, and you walk into a room of people who don't look like you, most of them with blond hair and blue eyes, it's disheartening. The weirdest part is that I walk in and assume they think I'm auditioning to play a different role than them, but I'm going out for their same role."

"What if the Internet breaks tomorrow? Then you'd realize that you're a human being, and you're not validated by what other people think of you - it's how you think of yourself."

"I truly believe the reason why there is a demand for rom-coms is because humans, whether its conscious or subconscious, have a need to feel happy and to see love."

"My parents would dress us up in traditional Vietnamese clothing to go to school for heritage day. We have a Vietnamese nanny that my parents wanted us to have so we could stay in touch and know where we came from."

"When you do action stuff and sci-fi stuff, you have a lot to hide behind - the hair and the makeup and the special effects. But when you play a normal girl, it's challenging because you have to trust yourself."

"Whenever I meet someone new, I always extend a hand and say, 'Hi I'm Lana Condor... Condor like the ugly endangered bird.' I like to see how people react to that and if they laugh and, indeed, know what a condor is... chances are we're going to get along just fine!"

"I wanted to go to college to be a journalist and follow in my dad's work. And then I became an actor."

"When I was a kid, I honestly never thought about race. I didn't see differences."

"There's a misconception that I can't relate to the quote-unquote 'Asian-American experience' because I didn't grow up with an Asian mom and dad. And that's just not true. I am Asian American, and so playing a girl who is half Korean, half white, but her white dad tried really hard to connect with her mom's heritage - that's very familiar to me."

"I think flashbacks are important. I mean, each episode - that's what I love about watching Lost is every episode, you have your new favorite character. We take turns and that's where we get to look a little different, show different sides to that character. It's like peeling an onion. So I find flashbacks really useful, really crucial to the show. I hope that doesn't ever go away."

"Again, I said it before, but I’m always surrounded by amazing female friends and they’re the ones who are with me and kind of slap me around when I’m doing something wrong. And to do a show about all these characters I can relate, sympathize and really care about, it’s great. I mean, I see my friends in all of the characters, all of the female characters, which is really nice."

"I think it was the only way to wrap the show up. I mean, I know that not everyone was thrilled about it – some people were really angry about the ending. It just shows you how much people put in their time and their passion for the show. You know a show like Lost is not going to [be like] every other show that I do – it’s a rare experience and I treasure it."

"At the same time, I think something like Lost is bringing something very different to the table, and I'm really proud to be a part of the first time in American television when they took the chance of writing Korean characters in to begin with -- but to have them speak Korean for thirty minutes in a one-hour show and have it subtitled? I think that was pretty gutsy of them. And it was received well; it wasn't like we dropped out of the ratings. People loved it, and this was the first time in American television, and hopefully this will bring a lot more different ethnic backgrounds to mass media like television or film -- because that's what America is all about, isn't it? It's like a mixed pot."

"I think it's so important for really young Asians growing up in America to have those positive images of themselves."

"In the US, my makeup artist was an elderly lady. She would put on my eyeliner using reading glasses. It’s something unimaginable in Korea."

"There have been times when casting directors were talking loudly on the phone right outside the room where I was auditioning. I didn’t know what to do."

"You work nose to the grindstone to get your foot in the door and establish yourself in this industry, but there’s never a guarantee–never an absolute certainty that your efforts will be rewarded in the way you envision. But, I do believe that so long as you’ve got the work ethic and tenacity, you’ll at least be ready when the opportunity arrives."

"I’m incredibly close to my family and I think family is such an important thing, in Asian culture especially. This really spoke to me personally, but hopefully the audience will resonate with that as well. Not only Asian audiences, but also audiences from all over the world, everyone and anything can relate to the unconditional love that you share among a family and between family members. No family is perfect. We all have our differences, misunderstandings, and ups and downs. I hope people can see that we are who we are because of our family and because of our ancestry, and respect that."

"I’m not physically a super expressive person. I think I’m pretty put-together."

"All I ever wanted in my life as an actor was a safe, exploratory environment to just play and act, without being worried about if it’s going to turn out alright on camera, what the box office is going to be, what is the press going to say, what’s the review going to be like. Acting in its purest form."

"When I was a teenager in Georgia, I always felt like the odd one. I never felt like I fit in. My dad and I would go to Blockbuster and look for Asian films and we could never find any. If we saw a Jackie Chan movie, we would watch that because it was so comforting to see a face similar to ours."

"America has taken small baby steps of progress towards having more inclusion and diversity in Hollywood. It's optimistic. I'm hopeful, but there is so much more work that needs to be done."

"Even while filming we knew how important it was that we get this opportunity to showcase our culture and our uniqueness, but also, as human beings, our stories, our emotions, and, at the end of the day, our humanity."

"I wanted to break boundaries for myself as an actor, where it's not to tell the story and do a good job, but to go to another level where I feel free."

"In China, literally in elementary school, we have to sit a certain way. You can't raise your hand anytime, you can’t speak in class. So, it takes a lot of courage and experimenting to kind of try to break that."

"It was important not only to me personally, but also for all of us who were involved, that it sets an example of Asian excellence for a more prominent presence in Hollywood, and also globally."

"When I worked in Asia for a long time, I just felt like I needed a break. I needed to relearn everything about myself and unlearn a lot of things."

"I learned so much about myself that I didn't know prior. You're just constantly outputting, and giving all you know so you don't have time to look inside of yourself and to really reflect. The four years at drama school really gave me that time and space. I got to know myself much better, I think as not only as an actor, but as a person. I was reassured about my passion for acting. I was more confident coming out of drama school."

"I'm eternally grateful for the Irish side of me. That's where I got my sense of comedy and whimsy. As for the English half — that's my reserved side ... But put me onstage, and the Irish comes out. The combination makes a good mix for acting."

"I was a wife and a mother, and I was completely fulfilled. But my husband recognised the signals in me which said "I've been doing enough gardening, I've cooked enough good dinners, I've sat around the house and mooned about what more interior decoration I can get my fingers into." It's a curious thing with actors and actresses, but suddenly the alarm goes off. My husband is a very sensitive person to my moods and he recognised the fact that I had to get on with something. Mame came along out of the blue just at this time. Now isn't that a miracle?"

"I'd like to be remembered as somebody who entertained — who took one out of oneself — for a few minutes, a few hours — transported you into a different venue — gave you relief, gave you entertainment, and gave you joy and laughter, and tears — all those things. I would like to be remembered as somebody who was — capable of doing that."

"What I experienced at drama school was the fun and the excitement of being given a part. And when you're a student and you are given a role, something is assigned to you. And you're going to do a little scene at the end of the term. That's absolutely the most thrilling thing in the world. So you're doing it, in other words."

"My first role was to play Audrey in As You Like It, which is a very comic part. And Touchstone and Audrey have a very funny scene together. And during that scene, I suddenly got this - the feel and the smell of being able to make an effect by the way I played the role, the way I comported myself. All of the physical aspects of acting suddenly came to me. And I got a laugh, you know, the first time I did it. Well, this was a tremendous kind of boost to my self-esteem."

"I went very fast in drama school and ended up working in one of the senior plays. Even just in my first year, I was assigned a role of a lady in waiting in Mary Of Scotland. So they obviously knew that this young person had something. She had a talent. And I sort of felt that, although I didn't get big-headed about it, but I felt it — gave me tremendous confidence."

"The only, let's say, the comfort I took was — and even then, I kind of leant on it — was the fact that I knew that I was an actress and that I could play different roles because I was continuously being offered extraordinary stretches, shall we say, as an actress, to play parts which were way out of my range. However, I would do it. And I managed to just skin by by the skin of my teeth, you know, playing roles where I was much older than I actually was, playing Walter Pidgeon's wife in "If Winter Comes," you know?"

"I was never going to get to play the girl next door. And I was never going to be groomed to be a glamorous movie star. And I sort of realized that. So I had to make my — make peace with myself on that score."

"Any actress will tell you that evil roles to play are the best. You can go to town, you know? And in that instance, I think that woman had so many layers and so many personas in a sense, she was riveting and so interesting to play. I relish the — having had that opportunity to play that role because I don't think there are many written like that. I consider that she was the Lear among, you know, movie women."

"When I first started Murder, She Wrote, I thought it would last maybe two, three years, you know, or maybe a year if we were lucky. But when it extended and I realized the deep inroads it had made into family life in America, I couldn't stop. So I was sort of trapped — happily trapped — for 12 years with it. And I'm still playing Jessica from time to time and loving it. I wouldn't want to let go of that lady. … She was the sort of woman I like, and therefore, I enjoyed playing her. And being Jessica was second nature to me because she embodied all of the qualities that I like about women. She was valiant and liberal and athletic and exciting and sexy and all kinds of good stuff that women are of a certain age and are not given credit for. So to be able to play that gave me tremendous sort of pleasure, and I'm so glad I've done it."

"Happiness is a choice and sometimes, it’s a really hard choice, but forcing yourself to find something constructive to do is key"

"To those who have lost their mothers, to those who have lost their children, to those who have always wanted to be mothers but couldn’t, to those who are surrogate mothers to the people around them, I see you and I send you all love"

"Animals are great, they love you unconditionally, and taking care of them catapults you out of your own head"

"It's great to be able to have that longevity because of the fans"

"Every day, I get up and push forward,It’s tough, but I strive to choose happiness"

"Sometimes when you play the same character for years, it’s hard to stretch, so this was fantastic."

"When we’re tested, we find we have the ability to be resilient, and with faith we can survive and thrive"

"I am a little challenged, digitally. I still have to figure it out"

"It’s a hard industry. As long as you love acting, do it for the acting, not for making money. Be in it because you love playing other characters, and never stop growing. Study. You are going to learn a lot from everyone. Stretch yourself. It needs to be your passion, and not for fame. I have very lucky my whole life, and I just love acting so much. Embrace it and immerse yourself in it"

"London, England you were a dream! Nothing like getting the chance to travel with family. If you get the chance to go. Just do it! The lessons, the respect for different cultures, and cuisine are life-learning experiences the kids will never forget. Love my family. Forever grateful. ❤️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿."

"When you love — truly, truly love yourself — you start to understand self-worth, self-value, and what it is that you deserve."

"I think what I would say to her is No. 1 focus on self-love"

"Meaning, really look deep into yourself and really get to know yourself, understand yourself. And a lot of that happens in some sort of isolation."

"The more I prioritize self-care and ensure my own well-being, the more effectively I can support and assist others. Once my cup is full, I can be better at filling up those in my community!"

"A major revelation for me was the recognition that I am in a perpetual state of evolution, and not only is this acceptable, but it's actually wonderful"

"It signifies personal growth and the capacity to acquire knowledge and self-improvement."

""While I undeniably cherish the various roles I play in my life, it became imperative for me to delve deeper into understanding who Tia, the individual, is and what brings happiness to her life"

"Despite what anybody may have to say to you or about you today, you are enough. Yesterday, you were enough. Today, you are enough."

"“the more you understand how worthy you are, the more likely you’ll find your strength again.”"

"Don't hold a grudge and say nothing, speak your truth and hold people accountable❤️. You deserve to be at peace about the situation!"

"13 Oct 2021 — Tabitha Brown: Don't try to be anybody but yourself—you are enough just as you are. Bring yourself to the camera, bring yourself to your phone."

"Shop I Can If I Want to Because It's My Business - Tabitha Brown Quote i-can-if-i-want-to-because-its-my-bz mugs designed by Kendo as well as other .."

"I prefer the characters who have a little bit of sass because I think I'm generally like that too."

"When you’re young, you don't always understand that you're making a change"

"When I was growing up in Somalia, my mom instilled in me, “Know your worth and know when to walk away from anything that doesn't serve you well. A man, careers, whatever it is—know when it is not serving you and walk away from it."

"First of all, you know this is a racist act, but let me put it to you from a different perspective: What I want is pay for services rendered. If I'm doing the same job as this person, I want the same pay."

"Since I've been in America, I've always been intrigued by one phrase: "She is beautiful, like the girl next door." I have always wondered whose neighborhood they were talking about."

"I get my stubborn character from my country’s shape"

"Refugees are 99 per cent of the time people who have left their countries in fear of their lives. I am the face of the refugee"

"Eliminating the things you love is not wellness. Wellness feeds your soul and makes you feel good."

"I suffer from low self-esteem. I had horrible self-esteem growing up. You really have to save yourself because the critic within you will eat you up. It’s not the outside world – it’s your interior life, that critic within you, that you have to silence"

"My looks have changed. I have laugh lines – not wrinkles."

"I believe the universe has great plans for us. When you are young, you don’t learn that."

"I have a 15-year-old daughter who thinks that I always had this self confidence that I have now at the age of 60. And I always tell her that what she is going through – the low self-esteem as a teenager – that is a right of passage"

"How Somalia’s Iman Abdulmajid Carved out a Niche in the Modelling World 3 years ago,by Elijah Oluwagbemiga"

"She has this amazing skin it sets off color and clothes in a way white women couldn’t do,” Mr. Klein"

"On the runway, she exuded style. She was an actress, a natural. She knew how to sell the clothes better than anybody",Mr.Klein"

"an icon for our times, Michael Kors"

"It’s not just enough to say that she is beautiful or beautifully dressed, although that is a part of the equation,” Mr. Kors"

"worldly, glamorous voice that has a sense of humor,” Mr. Kors"

"She’s a pretty girl, she’s already successful, and they need TV hosts. It just takes a while for the world to catch up with Iman",Ms. Hardison"

"I’m a woman trying to live life in the most exciting way possible! I work as an actress, that way I can experience many lives!"

"When you watch sci-fi you get completely engrossed in the world. It allows you to feel like a child, completely. So I’ve always loved the sci-fi genre."

"My very first memory of acting was for fun at my grandfather’s house during Christmas. My siblings, cousins, and I would put on plays and performances. My first professional role was in the feature film, Kini and Adams in 1997."

"Besides having to look my best, I have felt pressure to be sexy and to live up to Eurocentric standards of beauty. Defiantly, I am committed to portraying myself in the most authentic way possible. It isn’t always easy, but I believe that by embracing all of myself I can play my part in expanding the definition of what is considered beautiful and successful."

"I’ve learned that what people call mistakes are simply great discoveries!"

"I know how to swim, but I’m not a strong swimmer so that was probably the most challenging thing was shooting the scenes underwater. So we had to get training. I had breath holding training and I also had to get PADI certified"

"I got to the point where I can hold my breath for two minutes and twenty-eight seconds. Even though they use some CGI we still have to be in the water. We also have to use doubles because it does get tiring"

"I think that we touch in a lot of themes that are very current. One of those for example, being race. Us being sisters and us being different races, in the world where we come from as mermaids, that doesn’t matter. Considering everything happening in the world right now, it is a big thing to say that doesn’t matter"

"We are sisters and we are in a completely different world. Yes, It touches on us being foreigners in a foreign land. Just being on land is completely new to us"

"When I think of great performances, I remember how much I was affected by them and how the actresses and actors allowed themselves to be vulnerable and take the audience on a journey with them. There are a lot of good actresses and actors, the great ones are the ones that you remember, whose performances stand out"

"I think my big break was when I worked on Black Sails (Starz) in South Africa. It was my first international series where I had more than a couple of lines. I got to spend a lot of time on set with the lead actresses and actors who were from all over the world. Talking to them and hearing their stories opened my eyes to what’s possible and affirmed my desire to go to Hollywood"

"I made sure I was physically fit so I was ready for what was required of me. I had breath-hold training to learn how to hold my breath for long periods of time. I trained to get a Padi open water diving certificate, which taught me how to use diving equipment and how to work in deep water"

"It was scary in the beginning, I remember thinking I was going to die during the screen test but I kept pushing myself and it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in my life"

"It may look like helicopter parenting, but in Black culture and Iranian culture, that interconnectedness is deeply important"

"For me, optimism is a belief in self"

"Having to pour so much thought into basic survival doesn’t give your brain space to think about, Well, why are we living?"

"It’s overwhelming to think about how broken some of these systems are, how imperfect some of our tools for change are"

"Young people rise to the occasion time and time again, especially when we’re faced with things that are of deep concern to us"

"We need every voice. We need every person"

"On a set, you’re a character. Everything about you is altered. In the tent, the goal is to be yourself."

"Being Black and Iranian is something that even subconsciously plays into what I bring to a role"

"“It’s not about appearances or needing to seem like I’m good at everything"

"Education has always been an integral part of my life"

"My parents instilled this idea that learning is a lifelong adventure, whether that's in a classroom or out in the world"

"It's OK to not have all the answers"

"We cannot rely on the status quo, and we will need to pursue unconventional paths"

"Let yourself be bad at things"

"Not every attempt of mine would be a surefire success"

"We are not here to know, we are here to learn"

"The best learning happens when we give ourselves permission to fumble through something new"

"Finding what fulfills us is the ultimate success"

"It's OK to have multiple passions and to pursue them in various capacities"

"Allow yourself the freedom to explore different fields"

"My 20s has been a jarring experiment in figuring out how to give myself space to be mediocre at things"

"I have an unreasonable belief that I should be good immediately, and that's no way to discover new paths"

"One of the biggest exercises in being curious has been the first step of self-work, of talking to myself about being bad, and allowing myself to be absolutely an amateur with no goals of being advanced at something"

"At the age of 14, I had a mic in my hand and they were asking me about representation and about topics that I think not many 14-year-olds have a chance to discuss"

"My education allowed me to speak more ­confidently about the things that I advocate for in my work"

"I feel like I’m only here because of the people who have come before me"

"Fashion innovation is hard, but when people come in with their own aesthetic, it’s really inspiring"

"Originality and authenticity are synonymous to me in that, on a spiritual, more emotional level, it’s about staying grounded in who you are"

"The moments when I stop ­worrying about how I’m being perceived are really ­freeing."

"But what I love so much about the collision between time and space that has happened right now is the fact that I am in no way the face of anything, because when I look at so many of my peers, there are people doing the same work, more work, different work than I am"

"I describe my future as being policy-adjacent"

"I'm never going to find myself in positions in which I genuinely regret what I'm doing."

"We want this spectrum of ourselves portrayed in every physical possible spiritual, mental, emotional way that is so much more than saying I am a brown woman, or I am a black woman on TV, but saying, I am a fraction of my community"

"we are continuously undoing the works of how media, in particular, has been weaponized against minorities of any kind"

"So many times in the conversation, [colorism is used] as a straight up denial of blackness"

"I realized that when my norms did not fit those of the world around me, it was time to change the world norms"

"The story of immigration is something that is undoubtedly tied to mine"

"Leaving my teens is very intimidating to me."

"The journey into becoming an actor wasn’t one that was necessarily anchored in this desire to be on screen, but more so anchored in this desire to be a part of storytelling"

"My sense of audacity came from the fact that I felt so well represented in my home, from what I was looking at, from the fact that my parents formed what we call an alternate curriculum of books, folklore, fairytales, where everybody was global, Black, Brown, from every different part of the world"

"The question of why should the audience care is something that we’re always having to answer"

"When I’m not acting, I work behind the scenes with a group of talented individuals from Stronghold MNL, which is a production company that I own with a bunch of friends from DLS-CSB. The newest addition to my schedule is that some of my friends and I are about to start a line of lounge sets, room scents, and candles—so watch out for that!"

"I really try to keep things simple by staying away from a lot of prints and color. Keeping it basic and simple is key. I don’t really like spending too much time on thinking about what to wear. If it looks good and I’m comfortable then that’s about it."

"Wear clothes that make you look and feel good. Plus, don’t waste your money on trendy stuff, you won’t be able to wear them again and again."

"When you're pregnant, you finally start reading ingredients on food. You start caring about yourself by accident, because, you know, you care about the baby. When I got pregnant, I realized how bad I was to myself, how poorly I treated myself. Once I got pregnant, I was like, “Well, I guess I should put a seatbelt on.” You know, “Where is it? Oh.” Like I'm literally putting a seatbelt on for the—it’s so wild that you start having self-respect and caring about yourself only when you're growing another person inside you."

"Once the Cosby thing happened, I was kind of like, anything I hold dear to me truth-wise could be untrue. I'm literally like, yeah, the moon landing, there's something fishy about that. Like yeah, for sure. I don't know if we landed on the moon, but it is funny to me that the moon landing is really what divides us as a country. You know? I don’t know. But my take on the moon thing is actually that—this is a hot take—I just don’t care. Is that weird? Like, it makes no difference to me if they went or not"

"On China and COVID-19: So our enemy made a virus on purpose that killed tons of people, broke our economy, broke our brains, let's be honest, then culminated in all of us posting on social media to stop Asian hate."

"The right is taking books out of schools. Who cares, dude? That’s a states’ rights thing. That is between the parents and the school. Why do you care what books a kid in another state is reading?"

"On Charlie Kirk: He was as close to not a hypocrite as I've seen in a while. Did he lie about stuff? I don’t know. Was he trying out new personalities and personas for social—I truly don’t know. Did he spread lies? I don't know. And by the way, neither do you, because nobody can prove what a lie is."