I've been in love with the cinema since childhood and it's a fantasy of mine to appear in a Hollywood movie.

I'm a sucker for turquoise sea, white beaches and palm trees. I've been to the tropics every year since I could afford it. It's the perfect place to unwind. I can chill out, read, do a bit of yoga.

When people feel threatened by you, they find something that is belittling.

My parents wanted me to work in a bank or as an accountant.

When people speak their own language you get a much better sense of who they are.

When it came to the stylish and graceful art of ballroom dancing, my dad was a king of the clubs, a prowling tiger and a wonderfully natural mover.

I started dancing before I could talk. Other babies learn to stand and then walk - I just danced.

I'm not romantic at all. I'm a moaner. I should be on Grumpy Old Men. I'm terrible.

It's horrible how money and fame can make you acceptable while, if you're not famous or rich, you're not acceptable.

I think a lot of people have a vision of L.A. in which TV executives and movie directors plan their latest productions by the swimming pool.

I like to read about subjects unrelated to my work, especially history.

Effort will always triumph over unapplied potential.

Failure is a sign post of life, guiding us to the right paths.

If you can't be psyched about your own thoughts, then how are you supposed to have a meaningful interaction with anyone?

We are powerful because we have survived

On the whole it is the rights and freedoms of all citizens that are crucial in Saudi Arabia and from those the rights of women will emanate.

...If you do not take it up with you in some way, I shall be under the necessity of breaking your head with this shovel

When I feel strongly about something, I'm not so quiet.

In all my stories and novels, no one ever escapes Louisiana. Maybe that is because my soul never left Louisiana, although my body did go to California.

It may well happen that the public voice, pronounced by the representatives of the people, will be more constant to the public good than if pronounced by the people themselves.

It is human misery and not pleasure which contains the secret of the divine wisdom.