It's all the stuff I've been through in my life. From family struggles, people doubting me, things I went through as a child and going to prison, they all played a factor in who I am today. It really made me a better person. Going through those situations can make or break you as a human being.
There are books on our shelves we haven't read and doubtless never will, that each of us has probably put to one side in the belief that we will read them later on, perhaps even in another life.
We had many books and pictures... my parents' way of life doubtless left a lasting impression on me. They created an atmosphere in which a certain kind of freedom could exist. This may well account for my seeking a related sense of liberty as I grew up.
I learned to bet the Red Sox, the Celtics, Suffolk Downs. I thought it was a glorious life - pull up to the doughnut shop, spread out, and plan your day.
Life is tragic simply because the earth turns and the sun inexorably rises and sets, and one day, for each of us, the sun will go down for the last, last time.
I've been singing my entire life. The guitar came to me later on down the road.
I'm not a flag waver for obesity. It's not healthy, and you have a crap life because there is such a downer on it.
Noble life demands a noble architecture for noble uses of noble men. Lack of culture means what it has always meant: ignoble civilization and therefore imminent downfall.
It was the most fun I've ever had on a movie. It was one of the happiest times in my life. I was living in New York, and I really enjoyed acting at the time. Also, it's funny because that was also the time when I went downhill.
I never understand when people say, 'School days are the best of your life.' So it's all downhill from 16? How depressing.
The truth is I am not a very hands-on political wife; I don't get involved in day-to-day Downing Street life. They don't need me interfering, but in the evening, we will talk about each other's day. I try to stay out of the Westminster village. There are times when I will be surprised and curious about what's been announced.
The first six years of a child's life, it is like a tape recorder is on. Everything it sees, smells, touches, experiences in any way, whatever it hears, is being downloaded into the brain before the consciousness of the child is even made apparent.
Good jazz has been a big part of my life as far as my interest in music, and... It's kind of weird now with music, the way technology is, with downloading and iPods and electronic distribution, and its kind of - you miss something, I think.
All I can tell you is that you cannot make choices in your own career, either career choices or choices when you're actually working as an actor, based on trying to downplay or live up to a comparison with somebody else. You just can't do that. You have to do your own work based on your own gut, your own instincts, and your own life.
It's not my plan or whatever in my life to be a sex symbol. It never is. You are who you are, but you can't help what you look like. And when you do a film, like for me, it's just not about that. I would prefer to downplay it. I prefer to downplay the sex appeal.
Throughout most of my life, I've tried to downplay my Chinese heritage because I wanted so much to be an American. I was the only Asian kid in my elementary school, and I longed to be like everyone else. I insisted on American food; I was embarrassed by my mother's poor English.
Nothing has run smoothly with me throughout my life. Everything has had ups and downs and lefts and rights, and that's just the way it has panned out for me, unfortunately.
Transformation is a process, and as life happens there are tons of ups and downs. It's a journey of discovery - there are moments on mountaintops and moments in deep valleys of despair.
I've been lucky enough - well, maybe unlucky enough - to have had a lot of friends who have had their ups and downs. And for an actor, that's good. Life experience in any regard is good. So I've seen a lot and I've had my own experiences.
Life is not easy for anyone. You have to have ups and downs. You can make mistakes. You learn and try not to make them again. That's pretty much my principle.
