"I can do what I want, when I want, how I want. Go where I want. Sleep in the temperature I want to sleep in. I have a freedom that’s overwhelming sometimes. I love being free."

"But when you are a king, you must adhere to the music of the symphony that’s being played."

"Heavy is the head that wears the crown. I know, because I wear one."

"We celebrities are human beings. We hurt. We get our hearts broken. We break hearts. It all comes back to who you are. Who am I today? Am I living on purpose? Or am I clawing at the void? Will I walk in my joy today and acknowledge the color purple? I’ve got jacaranda trees around my house. Three months out of the year, it’s purple. I lay here in this plethora of purple and I give thanks."

"When I’m out in the world on tour with my books, I’m not selling books. I don’t need that money. Writing these books was giving these kids the knowledge that no matter how big the fire is, they can come through."

"We all have our individual challenges in any field, the beauty of working in the field of storytelling is you tell it the way you want to. So write the stories you want to see on screen. Support the stories you want to watch. Focus on the ways it is working and make more work. Find the doors that are open to you, and kick them open wide."

"I’ve never been one to fit into a box. I’ve never been normal. I think that this is part of the reason why I love this life that I live, and that I am an actor, and I am a chameleon, because I am okay with the not knowing sometimes, and I’m okay with the questioning and I’m okay with being different"

"Just because your smart may not be conventional, doesn’t make it any less important or credible."

"You're not alone with your nervous feelings. Every single person who walks in that room is feeling the same way that you are. But you have an opportunity to view your nerves as something different. It has been proven that the physical effects of stress (meaning the jitters you get, the shortness of breath, the rapid heart rate) are identical to the physical effects of courage! So when you start to feel nervous and stressed, redefine it in your mind: You are getting courageous and ready for a challenge! Don't see it as a threat but rather an opportunity to show your courage!"

"I am so thrilled to be involved with PETA and taking a stance that I would rather be naked than wear fur, because I've always grown up with animals and I consider them my best friends, and for us to put them through so much torture and cruelty just for fashion I think is so horrific, and we need to raise the awareness because a person needs to learn to be comfortable in their own skin, not the skin of another animal."

"I feel like the script to Nightmare 4 is so tender hearted and thought out. I completely related to that character. That’s me in grade school, junior high, etc. Daydreamer, all I did was read books all summer long, looking out the window at the cute guy playing soccer in the backyard. Literally I was Alice. That was my life, so I completely related to the character and I think a lot of us can relate to the character at times in our life when we just want to be part of the wall. We just want to be wallpaper and not bring attention to ourselves and disappear into fantasy worlds. I believe a lot of people, at least a lot of people have told me that they really related to that character. But at one point in life, you have to make a decision to stand up for yourself and stand up for those that you love."

"I’ve also always loved to read books, I loved story-telling. I’ve always loved reading out loud in class, which sounds really silly, but I always had my hand up to read in English class from a book or whatever. I was born in Missouri, we had a basement, which all Missourians do. I was always making up plays, shows, and mom would always give us a big box of clothes she was getting rid of. I was always dressing up my sister into some type of character. So, it was probably innately always a part of me to be an actress."

"I loved Fred so, and I mean that in the nicest, warmest way: I had such affection for him artistically. I think that experience with Fred was a divine blessing. It blessed me, I know, and I don't think blessings are one sided."

"Believe me, Ginger was great. She contributed her full fifty percent in making them such a great team. She could follow Fred as if one brain was thinking. She blended with his every step and mood immaculately. He was able to do dances on screen that would have been impossible to risk if he hadn't had a partner like Ginger - as skillful as she was attractive."

"Ginger was brilliantly effective. She made everything work for her. Actually she made things very fine for both of us and she deserves most of the credit for our success."

"The hardest working actress I ever knew."

"She had guts."

"What's all this talk about me being teamed with Ginger Rogers? I will not have it Leland--I did not go into pictures to be teamed with her or anyone else, and if that is the program in mind for me I will not stand for it. I don't mind making another picture with her but as for this teams idea, it's out."

"Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, except backwards and in high heels."

"That's pure bunk. I adored Fred. We were good friends. Our only problem is that we never aspired to be any kind of a team. We didn't want to be Abbott and Costello. We thought of ourselves as individuals. We didn't intend to be another Frick and Frack. [smiling, after a pause] But it happened anyway, didn't it? And I'll be forever grateful it did."

"Being a sex symbol has to do with an attitude, not looks. Most men think it's looks, most women know otherwise."