Quotes

I'm so tired of hearing casting directors ask if I have a sore throat. The people who have told me that my voice is distinctive, it's unusual... those people have always been close to my heart.

[on why she was glad that the drama Thiếu Nữ Đeo Hoa Tai Ngọc Trai (2003) was a small foreign production] It would be hellish to have the pressure of putting on a Hollywood ending or putting in a scene where Vermeer sees Griet washing her breasts.

I always check in the mirror to make sure nothing is see-through.

I have a lot of actor friends who worked with their parents closely and have had really horrible experiences. They end up suing or being emancipated. The wonderful thing about my mom [who is also her manager] is that she completely respects my creative weirdness and supports any decision I make.

As long as people keep buying tabloids, they will keep harassing people in the public eye. They will make up stories.

[on David Hasselhoff, after they had both worked on SpongeBob: Bọt Biển Quần Vuông (2004)] I so fancied him when I was young, that to see my name on the credits next to his makes me go all girly. He was a hunk back in those days.

I have an obsessive character. I manicure my nails at three in the morning because nobody else can do it the right way. Maybe that's the secret to my success.

It's a great thing to get older and learn. I don't feel bound in any way by how many years I've lived. I identify just as much with my 86-year-old grandmother as I do with my sister.

People forget what it's like to be a child. When you're a child actress, people sometimes regress into being obnoxious and patronizing. But there's no reason to dumb things down just because you're working with kids.

What I respect most in people is naturalness and authenticity. I like to be able to see into their soul. I aspire to being a truthful person.

The most precious moment in life is when you're about to fall in love. You're lying in bed together and he's gazing at you and you're gazing at him and there's a sense that something truly wondrous is about to happen. It's a nervous moment - but it's exhilarating.

I am very independent. I can look after myself but I still need a lot of love and care.

I don't talk about my personal relationships, it always ends up kicking you in the face. But I've read a lot of things about myself and think, "Wow! That girl sounds really saucy.".

I think that I sort of see other actresses are kind of proud of the way they look and show it off. That's never really been my style. I really don't think that it's disgusting or wrong, if you're 18 you're 18, it's your body, it's your right to show yourself, however, I don't really take a part in that. I like to look nice, but I think that there's ways of doing it that are more tasteful than just wearing a bikini wherever you go.

I don't know if I've got swept up. It's so shocking when you hear that Calvin Klein wants you for their new campaign. You're like "who me?". I guess you have to decide where you draw the line between you saying, this is fun, pretty and fabulous, and being over-exposed.

Well, you put a little piece of yourself into every character that you do. Even if you're playing some psychotic person, which of course I'm not, some part of you is in that character and it's hopefully believable. I always come back to the fact that my own instinct is better than something I build in my mind.

Tons of that stuff comes to me, but a lot of it is awful. All these teenage slaying movies, and movies about girls that have deformities that become cheerleaders and then marry the prom king!

I always had the chance to do whatever I wanted to do, my parents were very open about that. Acting has been a passion of mine. I wanted to be in musicals as a kid, and took tap dance, so for me it's a dream come true, my childhood was filled with things that I loved to do, and also very normal things: I lived in New York, I have a family life and went to a regular school. If anything, I look back and think, "Wow, I did a lot of things that a lot of people don't get to do in their lifetime.".

It's a place of solace. I love London, it's an amazing city. I've met some wonderful people there and I also have some family there. I'm from New York, so I feel very at home in London. It's like a metropolitan breeding ground for culture, art, music and diversity. It's a beautiful city, with beautiful history. In Hollywood, it's hard to step outside of the circle once you're in it. But in London, I was really moved by how accepted I felt there. There was definitely less need to wear my big sunglasses!

[on filming Đảo Vô Hình (2005)] I came home and I thought I was going to die. I was in agony. I had muscles that had atrophied. I couldn't run any longer and it was only the first day. But actually, Ewan was in the same boat. He had black and blue marks all over him. So it wasn't so bad since someone else was in agony.

I don't think there's any kind of preparation for sudden celebrity. I think you almost have this slight nervous breakdown when that kind of media attention happens. I mean, you're doing the same kind of thing that you do all the time, only you have to make these weird adjustments. Like, you're buying a slice of pizza and somebody's outside photographing you which is weird - that's not normal! It's very uncomfortable.

Everyone in Hollywood is so damn skinny and you constantly feel like you're not skinny enough. But I have 'fat days' and I accept that I'm never going to be rail thin. It's hard not to feel pressure in this industry and I already use anti-aging products on my skin. I try not to let the pressure get to me but Los Angeles is a very hard place to be unless you have people here that love you. It can be very, very lonely, and it can eat you up if you don't take care of yourself.

I was driving through Los Angeles and I look up and see the biggest photo of me I have ever seen in my life on a massive ad space. I screamed and slammed on the brakes. I couldn't believe it. It's very strange to see my cleavage the size of a brontosaurus. My breasts were huge. I had long hair and my goodness, I couldn't get past the cleavage.

I don't think human beings are monogamous by nature. It's difficult - you have to put a lot of effort into a relationship. I think it's hard for actors to date each other because they are so damn moody. You are away from people constantly and having a relationship that is strictly by phone, it is miserable. Or if you say to him/her, "Hey, (even though) I am doing a very sexy scene with this very sexy girl/boy, I love you and I'm going to be thinking of you when I am rolling around in bed with this person!".

We are supposed to be liberated in America but if our President had his way, we wouldn't be educated about sex at all. Every woman would have six children and we wouldn't be able to have abortions.

Whose life would I like to step into for the day? The president's. I could probably get some things done in the Oval Office.

Do I ever get nervous about this, right now, being the pinnacle of my career? Yeah, I do. At the end of (filming) every movie I think, "Wow - this is the last one! Nice working with you.".

[on Woody Allen] I just adore Woody. We have a lot in common. We're New Yorkers, Jewish. We have a very easygoing relationship.

[on getting to entertain US troops in the Persian Gulf in 2008] This USO tour to the Gulf region truly means a lot. I've wanted to go over and visit for some time, and now my moment has arrived. It's one thing to reply to a letter or extend your thanks to service members in a speech, but it's another thing to visit them and spend time with those that do so much for us back home.

[on comparisons with Marilyn Monroe] I love Marilyn. I think she was incredibly beautiful and a very underrated actress. I am a curvy woman who is blonde, and perhaps we are both comfortable in our femininity, but I think that is as far as the comparison goes.

My natural hair color is dirty blonde. I've been a bottle blonde before, very yellow - and a white blonde. My dad is Danish and he's a natural blonde. I've even taken a clipping from his hair to the salon so I can have it tinted the same color!

[on Katy Perry's song, "I Kissed a Girl", which was inspired by Scarlett Johansson] That's flattering, but my lips are kind of taken.

[on her trip to Rwanda and initiative to help fight against AIDS in Africa] It was important for me to come here and see the issues we're up against firsthand. I came here with an open mind, wanting to listen, understand and learn; I leave with the overwhelming understanding that the small action of making a (RED) choice in your purchases... has an enormous impact on the lives of people in countries like Rwanda.

I read a lot of things about myself that aren't true... I've read that I've been with people I've never met. It's not nice to have any attachment, but likewise, it's nice to have a boyfriend. I'm open to that. But it's hard, when you're working constantly, to spend enough time with someone.

There was this rumor mill cranking out stories that I had lost 14 pounds - I could never lose 14 pounds. I can't look at somebody who is 6 feet tall and 120 pounds and say, I'm going to get that body. That's just never going to happen. You have to work with what you've got.

[on her marriage to Ryan Reynolds] I never really thought about getting married - it just kind of happened. It seemed natural, the right thing to do. It was kind of a celebration of the time... I'm kind of making my own little family now, which is funny. It's like a little bit of a tribe. You hope that a relationship makes you better, that you learn things about yourself.

I would love to work on Broadway, but I don't know that it would manifest itself in musical theater... I have terrible stage fright that I'd have to get over. It came on when I was a teenager, and I think it somehow sticks with you. There are plenty of moments on stage where you think, "If one of my boobs just fell out right now..."

I love to get ready for the red carpet, but being on it is very uncomfortable. It's so freakish and weird. I get flop sweats, dry mouth, heart palpitations, all-over panic!

I try to stay fit and eat healthily, but I am not anxious to starve myself and become unnaturally thin. I don't find that look attractive on women and I don't want to become part of that trend. It's unhealthy and it puts too much pressure on women in general who are being fed this image of the ideal, which it is not. I think America has become obsessed with dieting rather than focusing on eating well, exercising and living a healthy life. I also think that being ultra-thin is not sexy at all. Women shouldn't be forced to conform to unrealistic and unhealthy body images that the media promote. I don't need to be skinny to be sexy.

[on winning a Tony Award] Being welcomed into this community has been a dream come true for me. Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to be on Broadway, and here I am.

[on working on Broadway] It was strange to think that this show is going to go on whether it's good or bad. They will let the audience in at some point, and they will see it, and we are going to be exposed for better or for worse.

[on how she spends her free time] I'm still trying to figure out what to do when I'm not making movies. I just don't do that many things.

[on being the face of Moet & Chandon Champagne] I am honored to have been chosen as their ambassador and to make history with the brand, as the first celebrity face of champagne.

[on her 2011 photo shoot for Mango clothing] Yes, it has been great working with Mango. I loved working with the whole team - I think between Mario, the makeup and hairdressing teams and the stylist, we have created something special.

Sharing food is one of life's pleasures. On a global scale, we don't share fairly. Close to a billion people go to bed hungry every night. The fact is: the global food system is a broken one. All of us, from Kentucky to Kenya, deserve enough to eat. That's why I'm joining Oxfam's Grow campaign.

I'm curvy - I'm never going to be 5' 11' and 120 pounds. But I feel lucky to have what I've got. I feel comfortable as a young woman - a young, modern, liberal person. I feel comfortable with my sexuality. However, I am protective of my private life. I don't think that if you are in the public eye, your life is public. I am an actor. But you can't take things too seriously.

I don't feel mature. I always feel about the age I am. I know Robert Redford described me as, '13 going on 30', but that's not how I felt at the time. I am still dorky. I watch cheesy television with TV dinners and, at one point, could not stop watching Jerry Springer.

I started acting when I was seven. I had a couple of lines in this play called "Sophistry" with Ethan Hawke. I studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute, and that really gave me an opportunity to perform before live audiences. There's absolutely a difference between that and working in film... like you can mess up in film and not worry about it.

[on the alleged nude photos of her which were stolen by hackers] Just because you're in the spotlight, or just because you're an actor or making films or whatever, doesn't mean that you're not entitled to your own personal privacy. I think no matter what the context, if that is besieged in some way, it feels unjust. It feels wrong.

[on her divorce in 2011] At first, I was quite depressed. After about a week or so, I pulled myself together and started to go to the gym all the time. Luckily, I've got a few very close girlfriends who have been by my side for 15 years now, whom I can talk to about everything and confide in. I have a close relationship with my twin brother Hunter as well. And then there's my grandmother Dorothy. She's an incredibly sweet, lovely and wise woman.