You try to get rid of the things that are weighing you down.
Many people must have looked at my life and thought I was quite fortunate. But I felt lousy about myself - and as you now know, I didn't come from a place where I had a lot of self-confidence.
I've had such an odd career.
I'm an actor. I'm trying to be the character and do what they're doing.
You can't help but feel all the human-rights issues.
All people want on this earth is to connect with others. Other than eating and sleeping. Human beings need to connect with other human beings. Otherwise, they lose their mind.
Like a jerk, I went to a nutritionist and I ate the most repulsive, awful things. I didn't allow myself to eat chocolate cake and french fries and cheeseburgers.
There are some actors who are my contemporaries who I think of as purebreds and I'm not.
When you're old, you are more certain of who you are, and that may be a good thing or a bad thing.
I've done some good work and some not-good work.
Don't you be afraid, sweetheart. Death is just a part of life, something we're all destined to do.
Get over it. Get on with your life.
I've never had my heart broken.
If mothers ruled the world, there wouldn’t be any goddamn wars in the first place.
The bad thing about being with an actor is that the role he's in stays with him all the time. The good thing about being with an actor - well, I can't think of any good thing.
I am such a notorious hermit - almost pathological. And, I'm not a hoarder. But that's just a symptom of things that I do feel.
We just fight our way through it. But you can't just get up and walk out without repeating the behavior over and over.
I wouldnt mind having my heart broken because it would mean that I had that much feeling connected to somebody. And that would be really great.
You know, people really don't understand what actors do.
When you have kept yourself isolated, no one relates to you, you have no way of understanding actually who you are.
I think when you're reaching outside of something you're comfortable doing, you're just heading towards a light. I don't think you stop to justify it.
Western Costume, and the old Universal wardrobe that is huge and they're getting rid of so much of it now, which is sad.
The opportunities I've had to play really complex characters - which haven't been a lot, but some - you never get over them.
People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along?
I can't deny the fact that you like me! You like me!
I haven't had an orthodox career.
I think that's very sad, that I haven't allowed my heart to be broken. I have broken a few.
I'm looking for a bunch of new tchotchkes that represent the new part of my life.
I'm so vigorous, and I so take it for granted, because I've always been a real physical person.
'Forrest Gump' is filled full of moments where your heart just cheers.
I'm highly emotional, so I'm highly aware of humiliation.
I certainly have a very colorful nature, filled with great highs and great lows... in my early adulthood I probably was grappling with some serious depression issues.
Fear is where the information is.
I didn't back into being an actor, I was born one.
I've never had my heart broken. It's a very sad state of affairs. I think everybody should have their heart broken. I don't think it says anything good about me at all.
I have a tendency to think of myself as the mutt of the litter. I'm not purebred.
But there isn't any second half of myself waiting to plug in and make me whole. It's there. I'm already whole.
I never felt safe. In high school, acting is what I did to stay sane. It wasn't about showing off; it was about revealing parts of myself that I couldn't reveal anyplace else.
But I was losing so much bone density that I would have been in grave danger. And I mean grave danger. If I had let it go just a few more years I could have broken my hip or spine just picking up my granddaughter
What does the Academy Award mean? I don’t think it means much of anything.
I haven't had an orthodox career, and I've wanted more than anything to have your respect. The first time I didn't feel it, but this time I feel it, and I can't deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me!
Acting has been my lover and best friend. My confidant and my tormentor. It has given me support and broken my heart and mended it.
Louis Armstrong said you have to live a life. And that's right. If you don't live a life, you don't got nothin' to come out your horn.
If I hadn't fought back, I might have been Gidget forever.
I've grown used to being lonely over the years, so I don't seek to change it. But aren't there many people who are lonely?
And I realized that sometimes the greatest triumphs in your life come in on little cat feet and sit on silent haunches and it's up to you to see it before it moves on.
The people who stand on the sidelines and criticize aren't actually in the arena, spilling their blood.
When it came down to doing the nude scene, I couldn't hide how humiliating it was for me; I burst into tears.
In reality, people are people. Age does a weird thing to your body on the outside. It makes your face fall and weird things happen all over. But inside, you're the same person you always were.
You may be a little older, or a little more neurotic, or a little more closed off. But inside, you're just the same.
Don't think for one minute, whoever you are, that you're not important. You're so vitally important to stand up and be heard and do what it is you do.
Quit thinking about your weight and start thinking about your worth and who you are and what you haven't done yet. What you want to accomplish.
I don't know what happiness is. I have periods of feeling joyous and peaceful and excited about what I'm doing, but I am also frequently very sad.
Motherhood is given the brush-off in our society. 'Oh, I'm just a mom,' you hear women say. 'Just' a mom? Please! Being a mom is everything. It's mentorship, it's inspirational, it's our hope for the future.
Had there not been a Mary Todd, there would not have been an Abraham Lincoln. She found him when he was a young lawyer and really a bumpkin. No one knew of him, but she recognized his brilliance.
The whole world is waiting. The whole world needs you.
To watch how lovingly your children parent their own children is to know profound achievement.
I MUST go to what desperately frightens me - the chance of failure.
People really don't understand what actors do.
In the 1970s and 1980s, I got to do some great work. The Oscars are really nice, but the best part is that I had the opportunity to do that kind of work.
The only thing that matters to me is getting to the work - getting to do the work. And I don't really care where it is: whether it's on stage or on television or in film.
I haven't had an orthodox career.
You can't help but feel all the human-rights issues.
I've done some good work and some not-good work.
I'm looking for a bunch of new tchotchkes that represent the new part of my life.
You know, people really don't understand what actors do.
The opportunities I've had to play really complex characters - which haven't been a lot, but some - you never get over them.
The Oscars are really nice, but the best part is that I had the opportunity to do that kind of work.
I always wanted to be a great actor.
I wanted to be Katharine Hepburn-ish - there was a bit of nobility about her.
I've had such an odd career.
I had to let my ego go a long time ago.
I mean, the only thing that matters to me is getting to the work - getting to do the work. And I don't really care where it is: whether it's on stage or on television or in film.
I did comedies for 10 years and I learned a great deal.
Never, ever, have I felt really accepted in Hollywood.
'Forrest Gump' is filled full of moments where your heart just cheers.
There are not a lot of places for an actor to explore what it's like to be a woman in her 60s. There aren't any films about it and there very few TV series about it.
When you're old, you are more certain of who you are, and that may be a good thing or a bad thing.
There was really a snobbery from people in film - they did not want people who had come from television. It was the poor relation of show business, and especially situation comedy.
There are parts of me that I feel are beautiful, but they don't have anything to do with my nose.
My last son is leaving to go to college; my grandchildren are being born. My mother is living with me.
If I hadn't fought back, I might have been Gidget forever.
I've never had my heart broken. It's a very sad state of affairs. I think everybody should have their heart broken. I don't think it says anything good about me at all.
I'm so vigorous, and I so take it for granted, because I've always been a real physical person.
I was just lucky enough to grow up in a time when they actually had drama departments in schools.
I think the first thing I did was several scenes from Romeo and Juliet.
I really have no ulterior motive in taking on certain roles. I have no larger issue that I really want to show people. I'm an actor, that's all. I just do what I do.
I never really address myself to any image anybody has of me. That's like fighting with ghosts.
I joined the Actors Studio and began to work with Lee Strasberg, and that changed my work.
I have never been beautiful in cliche terms.
I came from a real working-class show business family.
I wouldn't mind having my heart broken because it would mean that I had that much feeling connected to somebody. And that would be really great.
The roles... the deep roles that I've gotten to play have turned my course. They've changed my life experience.
Last year I was diagnosed with osteoporosis. I was over 50, Caucasian, thin, small-framed, and I have it in my genetic history. It was almost a slam-dunk.
I would take plays and I would cut out all the other dialogue and make long monologues because I felt the other kids weren't taking it as seriously as I did.
I was raised to sense what someone wanted me to be and be that kind of person. It took me a long time not to judge myself through someone else's eyes.
But there isn't any second half of myself waiting to plug in and make me whole. It's there. I'm already whole.
You lose your habitual behavior, which allowed you to sort of zone out. You have to be here, you have to be now, you have to be present.
My agent said, 'You aren't good enough for movies.' I said, 'You're fired.'
I grew up in a show-business family, but we were working-class show business. There was nothing glamorous about it. You had great things one day and the next day, nothing.
Change is never easy.
I can't deny the fact that you like me! You like me!
