I like playing characters who are out there on the edge, where they can explode at any moment or fall off the precipice.

I never felt like I belonged in Minnesota when I was growing up there. That's why I was out the door as soon as I turned 18.

The natural state of motherhood is unselfishness. When you become a mother, you are no longer the center of your own universe. You relinquish that position to your children.

When you learn not to want things so badly, life comes to you.

I regret those times when I've chosen the dark side. I've wasted enough time not being happy.

Moments of pure happiness...come upon you unexpectedly. Don't be too preoccupied to experience them.

Everything is transient. Everything is constantly changing. The only thing we have is now.

One of the things I love about acting is that it reveals a certain something about yourself, but it doesn't reveal your own personal story.

Don't be absent from your own life.

I've never been a sunny personality. I've never been outgoing. I'm a solitary person.

Acceptance and tolerance and forgiveness, those are life-altering lessons.

Your habits and hygiene demonstrate how you feel about yourself. Without saying a word, they speak for you.

Real freedom is having nothing. I was freer when I didn't have a cent.

I kind of like the way that I came up as an artist. I like experimenting.

An artist feels vulnerable to begin with; and yet the only answer is to recklessly discard more armour.

Stay here, baby" he whispers, like he can read my thoughts. "Trust me, okay? Don't run

We live in a world where action is what counts.

To all that is used-up, and to all the muffled and dumb creatures in the world's full reserve, the unsayable sums, joyfully add yourself, and cancel the count.

Today the theory of evolution is about as much open to doubt as the theory that the earth goes round the sun.

I usually say Latina, Mexican-American or American Mexican, and in certain contexts, Chicana, depending on whether my audience understands the term or not.

The most important thing is to just be good at what you do. You do a good job playing the character, and people will be taken up with your character, not your clothes.