I think the thing about film is, as it gets proved by a lot of young filmmakers now, that the medium will just go on reinventing itself, and so you just hope to be a part of that and not a part of some kind of endless regurgitation or 'Here I am doing what you know I do' kind of thing.
When I was 11 years old, I thought, 'All I really wanna be able to do is my own comic book,' and I'm doing it. I don't have any other real ambitions. I have nothing to conquer at all.
I don't have anyone curbing my instincts, doing anything destructive to my self opinion.
All of the people who are using their BlackBerries or their iPhones, Facebook, all of the people who are sitting in cafes and hotels rooms doing their work, they're all using wireless technology, and we shouldn't assume that the only way of the future is high speed cable.
If you believe in what you're doing, you're going to make money. When you question it, you won't.
To me the thing with 'Grease' was that it was the first movie that as a kid I wanted to get up and do what they were doing.
My early life had a lot to do with my origins as a writer, but I didn't get into doing any writing at all until I was about 35 years old.
Lipstick is the easiest way to dress up without doing a lot, but it's hard to maintain, so I always opt for nudes if I'm going out for a long time.
There's a lot of noise in the world. And one of the beautiful things about doing theater and film is the absence of that noise or, perhaps, the adding of that noise where it's helpful in telling the story. I'm always trying to get rid of that noise. The more you do it, the better you get.
You can feel yourself trying too hard, doing too much. Nobody wants to watch somebody when they're needy, and actors are in the unfortunate position of needing to be cast and needing to be liked.
I don't mind a little Sturm und Drang. When I was doing 'Riding in Cars With Boys,' I wouldn't smile at anybody, because my character, Bev, was angry at the world. I'm the opposite. Inside my head I'd be like, God, I'll explain to you at the end of shooting that I'm not this person.
You know what I'm realizing? I always love a place if I like the movie I'm doing there. I've heard people say, 'I hate Pittsburgh,' and I'm like, 'I love Pittsburgh so much!' I loved what I was doing there, and I loved Austin for the same reason.
I have written some songs, but I would really call what I've done poetry at the end of the day, because I'll sit with my guitar for hours and hours on end for, like, a week and then I won't touch it for a month. I also just have no confidence. And you know what? I don't have time, because I'd rather be doing other things, like knitting.
Me as an artist, I've ventured off into doing all types of music. I'll do a jazz album, you know what I mean.
I did a lot of freelance desk publishing jobs when I graduated from college. I sort of earned a living doing that while I was writing plays, which was what I wanted to do. My hope was to become a playwright.
When I was 20, I thought anyone in the music business over 25 is past it. Then at 30, you think anyone still doing it at 35 is ridiculous. Suddenly, you find yourself at 48 and still doing it, so I don't know what to say, really.
When I watch movies with my kid like 'Shrek,' I'm like, 'Wow, this is pretty funny.' That's why I wanted to start doing movies like that - so my kid would laugh at my jokes.
I think the personal satisfaction of doing good in the community and increasing value and holding true to the Hippocratic oath and being able to provide services to those that are in need is very strong moral reason to provide services for the underserved.
I've been trying to... Having been an English literary graduate, I've been trying to avoid the idea of doing art ever since. I think the idea of art kills creativity.
I've been always clear that I wouldn't do TV soaps just for the sake of doing them. I would rather wait and work on projects which enable me to make an impact.
Choirs, auditions, talent shows, I was doing it all.
I don't think about doing new. I just do it.
I don't understand why people in this country are so bent on doing the 'perfect', when you have something that is good and makes sense from a cost-benefit point of view.
I watched a couple of films I was in and thought, 'Those are pretty close to what we wanted them to be. I feel actually weirdly OK with it all. I can still see flaws in what I'm doing, but I think I delivered. I think I improved the film with my presence.'
Some people with blogs are never going to get famous, and they've been doing it for, like, over a year. I feel bad for them.
I started out doing music videos and photography, and I always loved writing.
I've found over the years that for some reason, people either are big fans and have to use me, or they don't quite understand what I'm doing.
I was always interested in mixing experimentation with pop music, and Brian Eno, Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream - we were all doing it at the same time, just very isolated from each other, all in our different cellars, in different worlds, without the Internet - underground in every sense.
I usually hate going around and doing press. It sort of stresses me out.
The kinds of films that I'm used to doing are independent films. They're very small character-driven pieces, and there isn't as much spectacle involved.
When I started out, I wanted to be Billy Joel. The plan was to be a singer-songwriter of that ilk, and, then, I got waylaid - that's probably an unfair way to say it - from being a rock star by the musical theatre stuff, which I love doing.
I really don't want to do anything that resembles stand-up comedy. But I will agree to say that I am doing it, and I will hope that people expect it to be that, so I can thwart those expectations.
If you don't like the people, you're just doing a sketch. Which, in most cases, is comedy minus some emotional backbone.
As a black actress you've got to work doubly hard. But it doesn't ever get me to the point where I give up on myself. It just motivates me to be more prepared, focus and disciplined. That's why I care so much about doing black films and making sure that we represent and are represented correctly.
I love doing serious movies for adults.
It wasn't my dream to make music. It was just something I ended up doing, and no one said stop.
