I'm good with dialect. Some actors do it immediately; other actors never quite get it. It's something I've always really enjoyed and something I've always been pretty fast with.

Actresses get stupid questions asked of them all the time, like, ‘How do you stay sexy?’ or ‘What’s your sexiest quality?’ All these ridiculous things you would never ask a man.

Just because I'm the top-grossing actress of all time does not mean I'm the highest paid. I've had to fight for everything that I have. It's such a fickle and political industry.

I don't plan on selling out. I mean, it's nice to get a dinner reservation ahead of other people, but when it comes down to it, the most important thing to me is the actual work.

I've always wanted to work with Cameron Crowe. I've auditioned for him several times for various projects over the last ten years, and I've always admired the way he worked with me.

A smile from an attractive woman at a bar very rarely ends up in any sort of sexual encounter. But a man is a fool not to push the suggestion as far as it will go, and he's that man.

My family grew up relying on public assistance to help provide meals for our family. Child hunger in America is a real and often overlooked problem, but one that together, we can fix.

I certainly would never presume to play another race of a person. Diversity is important in Hollywood, and I would never want to feel like I was playing a character that was offensive.

I don't profess to know how to balance the positive and the negative media attention. It's a gamble every time you put yourself out there, and, certainly, I'm always readjusting to it.

You have Cameron Crowe write an incredible monologue for you just based on the things that you're talking about. It just became this opportunity that was too exciting a process to pass up.

I've stood around bogs wearing half a million dollars' worth of jewelry, up to my knees in the rot, thinking how much more or less the place smelled like a sewer than it did the day before.

It's so difficult to feel comfortable in the body you have. You always want to look a different way, taller or thinner, whatever it may be. I still struggle with it. I think everybody does.

You have to believe that you can act and that you're the right person for the job but I think it's good to not always know how you're going to do it. The fun part is trying to figure it out.

I did an interview where they were harping on and on about sensuality and sexuality... really, I have nothing to say about any of that stuff because it's so boring and I never think about it.

I don't think I need too much help. I think my head's on pretty straight, and I'm pretty realistic about things. I'm very focused, so that certainly prevents me from going all over the place.

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.

Powerful women often get concerned with this idea that they're going to be seen in this unforgiving light. Screw that. It's so old-fashioned... It's so uninspired and actually really cowardly.

Contrary to popular belief, I'm not promiscuous. There does seem to be a mistaken belief out there that I am sexually available somehow — which is not to say that I'm not open-minded about sex.

I don't feel the need to brand myself in that way [social media]. But as a means to share information and raise awareness of things, I think these social-networking platforms are unprecedented.

I get tested for HIV twice a year.... One has to be socially aware. It's part of being a decent human to be tested for STDs. It's just disgusting behaviour when people don't. It's so irresponsible.

Are people who want this kind of progressive change not turning up at polling stations? Are they not voting for progressive representatives? It's hard to put your finger on why we are where we are.

I like taking parts where I'm like: "I don't know how I'm going to do this exactly but I know I can do it." As opposed to doing something where you go: "There's nothing that I can contribute to this."

I'm not telling people where to give money, but if there is to be a spotlight shed on me, then I'd like to direct that spotlight onto causes I think are worthy or onto interesting, progressive figures.

It's so archaic. It's just, like, bizarre to me. I feel like in 10 or 15 years' time our children are going to look back and say, 'What? You were around when gay people weren't allowed to get married?'

I’m not telling people where to give money, but if there is to be a spotlight shed on me, then I’d like to direct that spotlight onto causes I think are worthy or onto interesting, progressive figures.

I'm not a statistician, but it doesn't take a genious to work out that 100 million children being denied an education is ridiculous. There is nothing lost in translation here, it's obvious that's wrong.

I do think on some basic level we are animals, and by instinct we kind of breed accordingly. But as much as I believe that, I work really hard when I'm in a relationship to make it work in a monogamous way.

We are supposed to be liberated in America but if our President [George W. Bush] 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.

I'm always surprised that certain actors have Twitter accounts. I guess they use it in a way that works for them. But I'd rather that people had less access to my personal life. If I could keep it that way, I'd be a happy lady.

Having visited Oxfam-funded school programs in rural communities has made me realise how vital education is to developing countries in bringing people out of poverty and giving them a sense of dignity, self-worth and confidence.

If you open up a magazine and there's a photograph of you with a giant red circle around your thigh, like, look at this cellulite, any person - I don't care what you do - would be mortified. It's no wonder people get crazy about it.

My father is from Copenhagen and he lived there until he was in his late 20s. We always grew up with a lot of Danish culture at home. My mother is Jewish but we always celebrated Christmas because we loved the traditions of Danish Christmas.

As a devoted mother and private person, and with complete awareness that my daughter will one day be old enough to read the news about herself, I would only like to say that I will never, ever be commenting on the dissolution of my marriage.

Do I think men are complicated? People are complicated! I don't know that there is one particular aspect of men in general that I don't understand - other than why do they have nipples? I thought we decided that men are just big, hairy apes.

I think you have to protect your private life as much as you possibly can, and, at the same time, find ways to redirect that focus and turn the glare into a positive thing. I don't know how you do it. I don't know how anybody's ever done it.

I don't profess to know anything about marriage that anybody else doesn't know, or how to make it right. I don't want to read about somebody who's giving me relationship advice. So I try to keep some things for myself, to have a private life.

LA's a very hard place to be unless you have people there that love you. It can be very, very lonely, and it can eat you up if you don't take care of yourself. In LA, nobody wants to talk to each other, everybody's giving each other catty looks.

You read statistics all the time like, "13 million people are at risk because of the severe drought in East Africa," but I think those kinds of numbers fall on deaf ears - there's so much devastation in the world, that it's a bit overwhelming for people.

I've always been interested in local politics. I never rule anything out, but I have a very full life right now, with a very young daughter. I have a lot that I want to do still with my career... I can't imagine that would be a possibility for a long time.

When you spend a lot of time, like I do, just standing around and waiting, or being moved from place to place, every minute gets consumed by something someone else has set up for you. And it's not like I'm always in a beautiful place wearing something gorgeous.

I believe in finding a soul mate. I've always been in monogamous relationships. I would never want to be in an open one. It'd be too awful. Monogamy can be hard work for some people. I don't think it applies to everybody, and I don't think a lot of people can do it.

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.

People are fed up - and I think quite rightfully so. But what are they proposing as an alternative to just being upset or feeling disillusioned or abandoned? That kind of protest movement really needs to happen on a much bigger scale, but there needs to be a clearer message.

I love to sing. I don't think it's strange for singers to act, or painters to sculpt. I don't want to ever feel like I'm cornered into one expression of creativity because I'm successful at making films or being an actor. I guess it's best to not paint yourself into that corner.

I don't have a Facebook or a Twitter account, and I don't know how I feel about this idea of, "Now, I'm eating dinner, and I want everyone to know that I'm having dinner at this time." or "I just mailed a letter and dropped off my kids." That, to me, is a very strange phenomenon.

If Occupy Wall Street was actually a march, and people from all around the country could collect and march toward Washington, D.C., as part of this massive movement of people . . . I think that kind of pressure is much more powerful than a sit-in that seems to be a little unorganized.

Being a movie star is a quality that somebody sort of embodies, and being a celebrity is something that people give to you. It has to do with being recognizable, as opposed to something that people recognize in you. I just hope to make good movies. I know that sounds simple, but it's true.

Sometimes I live in Paris for a couple of months, then I have a job some place, and then I come back to New York. I guess my base is New York-ish, 'cause my family is here. But my husband's family is all in Paris, so we try to spend a lot of time there, also. Especially now that we have Rose.

I don't think [being monogamous] is a natural instinct for human beings, but it doesn't mean I don't believe in monogamy or true love. I believe in finding a soul mate. Monogamy can be hard work for some people. I don't think it applies to everybody, and I don't think a lot of people can do it.

I think people today are very cynical. They need to bring other people down. Reality television and tabloid magazines—never before did we need to see movie stars taking out their garbage. But all of a sudden, it's front-page news—trying to figure out who's dating whom, all that stuff. Who cares?

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