- [In the mid-'90s, on why she never got married] Men don't want any responsibility, and neither do I.
- [on making Shampoo (1975) with Warren Beatty and Robert Towne] We showcased an utterly immoral, grotesquely greedy, decadent society that we felt was imminent.
- [on her relationship with Warren Beatty] I'm terribly dependent on him, like a baby to its mother, so we travel backwards and forward to be with each other.
- [on the prospect of her directing a film] Always a foot soldier, never a general.
- [on fame] All that concentrated adulation is terribly corroding.
- In the '60s, you did not know you were going to get older. But you do and you are. People become much dearer. When I see someone like Warren [Warren Beatty], with his four kids, there is that wonderful recognition of the life we have led. And a terrific sense of mortality, which is like a blessing almost: you suddenly realize what life is about.
- All women are aware of that moment when suddenly the boys don't look at you. It's a fairly common thing, when suddenly you no longer attract that instant male attention because of the way you look. I never really knew how to enjoy beauty, but it took the form of a subconscious arrogance, expecting things, all muddled up with celebrity. Then you begin to deal with it. In the 1970s, I was amazed to be talked about as a 60s sex symbol. I wasn't that person, as if I were a doll from the past. I had to learn to come to terms with that. It's funny, it's silly, the ridiculousness of having asked so much of celebrity. Then it becomes really interesting and very much part of the excitement of the life you're living now, knowing you're approaching the end of it.
- If I don't make films, no one is going to write about me. And most people have forgotten who I am anyway. My life is not interrupted because I am more or less anonymous.
- What's most gratifying to me is Sarah Polley getting a nomination for screenplay adaptation. I was afraid she wouldn't be recognized. I wondered if they were going to get this great piece of work. I'm very glad I did it because it's a terribly important issue. We've got to face the fact that we're living longer. This is the comeuppance of wishing for immortality. Back in the day we weren't so obsessed about them [Oscars] in England. I didn't know about the Academy Awards. I didn't know what it was. I got the smell of the thing that it was terribly important but I wasn't interested in it, but I figured maybe I could get something out of this. I told them I would go if my boyfriend and I could get a holiday in the desert. It almost feels the same today.
- Hollywood doesn't give a damn about me, and it is not going to change the way people think. Let's be realistic: you want to see people like Johnny Depp on the red carpet, or Angelina Jolie, a young woman I admire. That is the place for beautiful young people.
- It felt, to me, like a permanent cocktail party, without the drinks. Acting took me away from real life to a pretend life. I wanted that real life back. I am not a dedicated actress, I'm afraid. I never have been.
- Time has been savage in its relentless eating up of the years. Have I made the most of it? I have had an endless struggle not to be a coward about things. I know what I feel, but hate being looked at, hate doing anything in public, hate making speeches.
- I am innumerate. I had great earning years, but it went through my fingers. I no longer have a career to build. So I do a few things to pay the bills. I cannot complain. I am comfortable, my God.
- I cannot even talk about waste without being indignant. My introduction to Hollywood was a society that used it, sniffed it and threw it away. We've become a bit like that ourselves in the past 30 years. There's an attitude among the successful people of spend and spend, flaunt and flaunt, and don't think of anyone else.
- It is a complicated business, and we are very insecure, we actors. We all feel - and fear - we are going to be found out at any moment. Someone is going to point and say, "You are really not very good, are you?".
- I met such interesting people with Warren Beatty, whom I would never have met otherwise. And the film Shampoo (1975) stands the test of time. I cherish all those days. But I could not hack L.A., Hollywood was basically a throwaway society, run by publicity machines.
- I found films to be turbulent and stressful. They have caused me an enormous amount of anxiety, because I do not have a lot of confidence. You are working, intellectually and mentally, and you are having to be with people and socialise all the time. Actors like it, on the whole, but I was not born with that quality. I am very quiet and would much prefer to talk to a few people rather than a crowd.
- The film company wants you to look fantastic, and borrows clothes and diamonds from designers and jewelers for you to wear. I will not do that again. It is a pernicious pastime. Models wear designer things, so you become like a salesperson. There are actual signs outside the ceremony that say, "Turn around". Why? Because they want you to advertise the dress. I don't want to be involved in an advertising jamboree.
- I could never really see the point of being high-profile when I loathed it so much. Every now and then, you can go to something like an Oscars ceremony, but nobody is holding a gun to your head. The rules were the same 40 years ago as they are now. You can either choose your spotlight - or you can stay at home.
- [observation, 1966] Being on top right now is a fluke.
- I think I work, actually work, every 10 years. I don't care about pissing off Hollywood because it doesn't really exist anymore. But pissing off the media? It was difficult when I was a girl and they're not any kinder now. I just hate not being strong enough.
- I know the sorts of things that appeal to me does not appeal the way that Forrest Gump (1994) does. I really like ambiguity and I really like all sorts of complexity.
- Some of my opinions are quite radical.
- [on her looks] I told a friend I wasn't going to a party because I was so shy. I couldn't socialize. And she said, "Oh, you must come. I've told everybody the prettiest girl in the world is going to come." And I thought, "But I'm an ugly girl," and I remember that clearly. So that was the turning point.
- [how she was motivated to get a facelift at 55] People who are older than you appear to be younger. It is really undermining. You know they are older than you, yet you look like their mother.
- I'd rather talk to my ducks than some of the freaks I met in Hollywood.
- [regarding the plethora of reports that she and longtime boyfriend Duncan Campbell snuck off for a secret wedding in India] Nonsense. I have been married for a few years. Don't believe what you read in the papers.
- I see stardom very clearly as a construct that's been created in order to sell things. The more I meet other actors, the less the idea of the mythical movie star--an imaginary desire object who conforms to a certain ideal--makes sense to me at all. I think if people realize this when they read interviews, they might be less avid about them. It's sad that they get fooled into buying magazines and seeing films when so much of it is ... a sort of fabrication
- [about her passion for recording audio books] That's what I like doing best. Of course, it's hard work, but you have the opportunity to go on a search for the author's voice. Every author has a different voice, and when you've got it, the book becomes more alive than it ever does when you're reading it to yourself.
- [on Malaysia's death penalty for smuggling drugs, as portrayed in her movie Dadah Is Death (1988)] Some of them behave cruelly, but some of them are sympathetic. And I wouldn't criticize the Malaysian Government any more than I'd criticize states in the United States that have capital punishment.
- I've never been terribly ambitious. Of course that's easy to say when you've achieved other people's wildest ambitions. But I've never really been a driven, dedicated actress. I prefer an easier life.
- I don't see any reason for getting married unless you're religious, which I'm not.
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