actresses-from-new-york-state

"The most meaningful moments were moments when, like on a Friday night at rehearsal, I decided to stop and look around at the people who I loved so much and just make a memory of it. Nothing special — we were all just sitting around, and Mikey [Day] was doing a bit or Alex [Moffat] was doing a bit, and we were catching up and just looking around at the crew. Those are the moments that meant the most."

"This is fresh. It only happened two months ago."

"Telling Lorne was really hard."

"I felt ashamed, because we’re not supposed to, and there’s something unprofessional about it."

"I would never ask an actor to do something that I wouldn't do. So I was right there with them. I would cry with them. I would be angry with them. I would yell with them. I would do everything first so that they could see that it's okay to do it that broad."

"I can’t say exactly how it impacts me and changes me, but I feel like the process of doing that and really considering other perspectives, I feel like it offers some kind of teaching."

"And here we all are separated from people that we love and not able to go live the lives we’ve always loved. It is strange. I didn’t quite anticipate. I don’t think anyone anticipated being in this position now."

"After working with him, he became a real hero of mine because he was so kind to me – I was a 14-year-old kid and knew nothing."

"Jennifer goes in very deep, not just about her character but everyone else's, line by line, page by page. She is driven by the desire to understand why we act the way we do, why we behave a certain way."

"Jennifer has really emerged in the last few years. She's very intelligent, a great beauty and has a lot of integrity. And she's developing this extraordinary screen presence."

"My character has a lot of rapid-fire technical jargon, so wrapping your head around it and trying to say it with authority is a challenge. For me, the scenes that are more emotionally fraught, I always find the most fun to play."

"I mean, my dad was there with me and my dad was just so proud and excited to be there and I was so happy to have him there with me and I don’t know, I connect that a lot with my dad in that experience of being there, being there with him and what it meant to him."

"He was funny and gracious and made me feel so comfortable. He was amazing. Subsequently, I became a huge fan of his music."

"It’s weird how much his death has affected me, especially how I feel now. I am much more conscious of how precious time is and I strive to find joy in everything. I catch myself quicker now when I start wasting my time worrying about silly things."

"It wasn’t until my late twenties that I realised acting could be a creative experience."

"I'm more reserved. I can be kind of shy in a group. Once I'm comfortable with someone, I'm not reserved."

"The thing that really matters to me is well-being and happiness."

"I went through a really hard time at the end of last year. The biggest thing for me is that my kids grow up safely and have happy lives. For me, that’s enough."

"I did think that it was the sort of film that we could do together, and we had wanted to work together on something for some time."

"I got to spend the whole year with my kids and my husband. And that's wonderful. My job really suits me."

"Lots of other people have won Oscars, too, and there are a lot of talented women my age working who could play the roles I go after just as well."

"It was something about the way that we were together. He stood out to me as someone singular and rare and beautiful, and I liked the way he was in the world. I liked the way he was with people. I liked the way he was with my son and the way he made me feel."

"I have a thing about honesty; I think it's crucial to a relationship. Otherwise, one person holds all the power. It's healthy to be straightforward, and it turns out you can wind up weathering a lot. Knowing that everything is on the table what you see is what you get lends a sense of safety."

"I'd like both of my kids to remain kids as long as possible until they actually have to become grown-ups, so I prefer none of them become professionals before adulthood."

"I don't really have a vested interest in what they do career-wise, so long as it's neither destructive to their bodies nor illegal. And hopefully not destructive to other people's bodies either."

"I'm incredibly loyal, I like that. I'm not into trends and fads. I'm in it for the long haul. The same goes for relationships, business and personal. I believe in functioning that way."

"I didn't have a very rebellious personality, I was someone who wanted to make people happy. I was almost an overachiever kind of kid."

"I still don't know if I have the hang of it. It's kind of a work in progress but I've felt more invested than ever and committed and passionate since the birth of my son."

"You have to do it. You can't keep thinking about it, you just sort of surrender to it, especially when you get the opportunity to work with great actors."

"Family is the best thing I’ve ever had. My family is my life. There’s something primitive in your feeling about family,"

"A houseboat is my speed, I’m usually frightened in anything that moves. A rougher than expected trip up the Hudson with friends this summer, scared the hell out of me. But I still haven’t learned how to stop it."

"There are many roads to good acting, I've been asked repeatedly what the key to acting is, and as far as I'm concerned, the main thing is to keep the audience awake."

"Cast throughout her career in supporting roles, Stapleton was content not playing a lead character, I don't think she ever had unrealistic aspirations about her career."

"Not nearly as exciting as it would be if I were acknowledged as one of the greatest lays in the world."

"I figure you're a successful actress only when you don't have to work."

"I want to thank Troy, N.Y. … and everybody I ever met in my entire life."

"You have to know the insane odds, but you have to have the energy to buck them. You don't know if you're going to get a job anyway, so why give yourself the extra added handicap of dying if you don't play St. Joan?"

"I got to be quite the fish, I must say."

"I think the greatest compliment that I could ever receive is when people say to me I forgot you were short and that’s what it’s all about."

"I didn’t want to be an actress, because I had been around that lifestyle my whole life. So, I just thought I wanted to be more serious or some stupid thing. I think what changed it was I was 22 or so and I had this exercise. I was up on stage performing, and when you're doing it well, it is the most exhilarating thing in the world. It just feels like the most alive you can be or something, and I decided I am going to try and do that."

"There’s something tingly and exciting about fear. In some weird way, it’s also kind of sexy. It’s simple and extreme and makes you feel present. Horror also has an awesome fan base. They’re so loyal and are always excited."

"I believe that every culture contributes to fashion. But, I do remember Polly Mellen telling me, 'You know where we got hot pants from? We used to go up to Harlem and we would just look at what all the community people were wearing.'"

"For generations in this country, beauty was traditionally represented by three very distinct ideals in virtually all media: blond hair, blue eyes and fair skin...My cover shattered that notion forever….Women of color could boldly say to the world, ‘Hey, look at me! I’m here and I have value and I am beautiful.'"

"At my moment, there was always a token black person. And in the ’70s I became that token black person. It brings out the worst in people when they think there’s only one spot, where for everyone else there are lots of spots."

"…I tell them the funny stories of the models trying to knock me off of the runway. They are laughing and giggling. I get them. Then we do a fashion show. I get them walking and strutting, and we have fun. Not only is it a fashion show, but we also talk about who they are and what they wish for. I’ll ask an 11-year-old girl to give me one of three wishes, and she’ll say, “That my mother believes me.” Heartbreaking. I would imagine it’s stemmed from some of the altercations in my life with abuse. I always tell them that I get more out of this than they do."

"I feel like when I do a play the first time it simply let's me know what I have to do. I do all the things, I make all the cuts, and I really see it for the first time…"

"And there is such a difference in the stories that came from when they were in Africa and the ones they told in America, where their lives were so much rougher. And they keep going back and forth between these two worlds, until finally they get to the dawn, and they are somewhat strengthened so that they can keep going…"

"She doesn’t speak like I speak, because something happens to your chords when you look at the neck. Something has happened. But it was that face that really informed who she is. For me, it was all about the physicality. I had to meet that face. And it’s interesting because that face didn’t show up until the day before my first day on the set…"

"I also learned how they hungered for education. We take it for granted nowadays, that we get free education. That was major, that they didn't have it, and when they had it they passed it on with whatever they knew. After reconstruction, even if they only had a second grade education, they passed it on. The fact that everyone was hungry to learn to read and write was an amazing thing to realize…"

"People say that you’re never famous as an Asian-American ‘til you make it to the Chinese newspaper… You could be on the cover of Time, and your parents won’t recognize you until you are on that newspaper!"