I’m always doing something. I never shut my brain off.

I personally feel like, if you’re watching a film about war, you should get a sense of what it’s really like.

I listened to a lot of tapes of British theatre actresses and tried to learn from them. As Americans, we don’t have such a gift with language.

The older ones recently saw Mr and Mrs Smith and I think they thought that was the funniest thing they’d ever seen because, of course, watching your parents fight as spies is some strange sort of childhood fantasy.

It’s a natural thing for a child to lose a parent. I lost my mom too young but it happened. And I’m happy she’s out of pain, ’cause I love her and she’s my friend.

I’ve been fortunate in that I’ve been able to have that balance as an actress to be able to do the wild, fun action movies and also be allowed to do the dramas. Hopefully, if I’m able to keep that balance, I’d love to always try to do both.

For whatever reason, I don’t know why, but Cambodians learned something in their suffering and their struggle that we have lost touch with.

I love doing action. And I love doing dramatic films, and I’d never really been able to combine them

Actors spend a great deal of their time making films. And that doesn’t mean that they’re not educated. But we haven’t gone to law school and we’re not experts on policy. We’re just people with a platform and an opinion. But that should never be enough, in my opinion, to be political.

Sometimes acting and politics make a very bad combination. I think that sometimes people take me less seriously in my work for the UN because I am an actor.

It doesn’t take courage to drink too much and be wild or jump around. That doesn’t take any kind of boldness, just riding a motorcycle or whatever the idea of being tough is. Tough is having four kids. Tough is committing to life and being disciplined.

I always hate speculation on the news, so I don’t want to be somebody who speculates.

I hide my emotions mainly because you don’t want somebody to know that you feel sorry for them, because they will feel worse, or because you don’t want someone to know or see your fear. If someone like a sick kid or a burn victim sees your fear, they respond to how you respond. And if you show them it’s terrible, they will get upset. It’s something I’ve learned over the years.

I suppose I’m very aware of time and of memories and of enjoying life… not just doing the right thing and being a useful person, which I certainly wanna be and believe that I am. I hold onto my family really tight and try to be as good a woman as I can be in my life.

I wanna better understand the world I live in, and I wanna be able to learn how to be more effective. I wanna learn and I wanna listen.

Its just person after person in every different country that has a life that I can’t even imagine and has gone through horror that I can’t even imagine.

I never save things and I never take pictures. I wanna live in the moment. I don’t wanna be focusing on the past.

We need to be open minded to understand that there are lots of different levels of things going on and we shouldn’t be so quick to judge – and certainly not to judge a whole race, a whole religion or a whole people – and a lot of that is going on.

Like most people, you listen to yourself on the phone or an answering machine and you’re like, ‘Ugh.’ So to do something with just your voice is hard.

I wanna read a good paper first thing in the morning. And if I see a lie about myself flash across the front of the cover, I don’t think much of the rest of the newspaper.

I approached UNHCR because I believe in what the United Nations. I believe refugees are the most vulnerable people in the world. They are affected by everything, including landmines. They are vulnerable to everything.

As a director, I hoped that I was able to help the actors by giving them the space and the respect they need and the trust. I gave them what I always felt I needed when I was working.

I like to work with artists from around the world. There are so many new inspiring filmmakers. I had the privilege recently to work with Ethiopian filmmaker Zeresenay Mehari and his wife on the film Difret. They are that unique balance of very thoughtful conscious filmmakers who are also brilliant, original artists.

I’m shy to call myself a director still. When someone says, ‘What do you do for a living?’ I don’t know if I’ve earned that.

I try not to think about my public life. I focus on my private life, and that’s just the best way to live.

I prefer directing to acting. There is huge freedom that comes from being behind the camera. It brings a lot of responsibilities as well, but is intensely rewarding. Particularly the chance to help draw out the best in young actors.

I think it is funny that we were freer about sexuality in the 4th century B.C. It is a little disconcerting.

That’s the reason we kind of exist. It’s like our Job. To give to each other. And learn from each other. To capture moments of people. So it’s really strange to have somebody ignore the obvious human being right in front of them

Most of the night I just thought about how quickly I want to adopt again. It’s a very special thing. There’s something about making a choice, waking up and traveling somewhere and finding your family.

Like most people, I am simply trying to understand the situation in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and how I can best help.

My son is in love with Africa , so he has been asking for an African brother or sister .

Jon and I could not stop crying, … We’d have to stop takes.

It can poison you if you have success and you’re not a successful person

it is simply not going to be enough.

There are so many wonderful places. There are many parts of Asia, Africa, South America, so sooner or later I’ll end up everywhere, I’m sure

God, no! … I don’t think I’d fit into politics. I probably get more done not having chosen a side.

I don’t think any one person or any one organization should have the final word. That being said, I am working for a better United Nations. Nothing is perfect. You should never rely on only one source, but rather rely on those you believe in the most.

I feel very, very privileged to be a very small part of it.

I am a working mother who has set goals to accomplish a lot in this world. I want my wardrobe to be beautiful, sexy and comfortable ? all at the same time. St. John is all of those things.

Sierra Leone is still scarred by the war, but the people have invested a great deal of courage and hope in the truth and reconciliation process, … It is vital that the government acts on the (Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s) recommendations to ensure that history will not repeat itself.

On furnishing her new house: I saw these plastic horses – we’ll have them instead of chairs. People will climb in the saddle to sit.

She was six months and not nine pounds. Her skin, you could squeeze it, it stuck together. It was terrifying. Some children who were in a very similar situation to her passed away.

She’s like ? she has gained 6 pounds. … We are calling her chubby. … Good Morning America.

Second to my children, spending time with refugees and other persons of need around the world has been the greatest gift, … It’s been the greatest life lesson I could ever receive.

Life and death, energy and peace, if i stop today it was still worth it. Even the terrible mistakes, that I have made and would have unmade if I could. The pains that have burned me and scarred my soul, it was worth it for having been allowed to walk where I’ve walked. Which was to hell on earth, heaven on earth, back again, into, under, far in between, through it, in it and above…” Gia Marie Carangi 1960-1986

When you are an actor, you have to stay inside this world, but when you are with the crew, on the outside, you are in the dirt, working through all the issues. It’s just a different way of working, and I think I preferred it.

I take my kids to school. And if I go to work, I go to work, and they visit me on set. I come home. I have dinner with my family. I have breakfast with my family. I have a very solid, very warm home.

Obviously, there’s a part of me that takes the world of violence and death very seriously. However, when it comes to protection, or when it comes to just the skill of shooting… I’ve gone to the range with sniper rifles and things like that.

I had a C-section, and I found it fascinating. I didn’t find it a sacrifice, and I didn’t find it a painful experience. I found it a fascinating miracle of what a body can do.

In my father’s generation, the product was 80 percent of what you were putting into the world, and your personal life was 20 percent. It now seems that 80 percent of the product I put out is silly, made-up stories and what I’m wearing.

I went through a period when I felt my film characters were having more fun than I was. It might partly explain why I ended up tattooed or doing certain extreme things in my life.

I didn’t die young. So I am very lucky. There are other artists and people that didn’t survive certain things… people can imagine that I did the most dangerous, and I did the worst… for many reasons, I shouldn’t be here.

Maleficent was always so elegant. She always was in control. And to play her was difficult. I worked on my voice a lot. She’s bigger than me. She’s on a different level of performance that I have never done.

It was weird to be married; you kind of lose your identity. You’re suddenly somebody’s wife. And you’re like, ‘Oh, I’m half of a couple now. I’ve lost me.’

I notice that my characters go out to dinner and have fun and take these great trips, but I spend so much time on their lives, I don’t have much of a personal life of my own. I have to sort of remember to fill out that little notebook on me.

I’d go from film to film and almost detach from one world and jump in another. I was living as these people and not having a self. I didn’t know who I was. And things just get really dark.

I became an actress because my mom wanted me to become an actress. It took me until my mid-30s to realize I actually didn’t. I actually wanted to write and direct and be more involved in politics and humanitarian issues.

They’re right to think that about me, because I’m the person most likely to sleep with my female fans, I genuinely love other women. And I think they know that.

The great thing about having a bunch of kids is they just remind you that you’re the person who takes them to go poop

My children love Maleficent’s voice, so they always make me do it at home.

The loss of a child is my greatest nightmare.

Therapy? I don’t need that. The roles that I choose are my therapy

The fact is I am not having sex. But I feel absolutely ripe for the, what would you say? plucking?

I love to put on lotion. Sometimes I’ll watch TV and go into a lotion trance for an hour. I try to find brands that don’t taste bad in case anyone wants to taste me.

I think if you make a good movie, people walk away arguing.

If you have enough people sitting around telling you you’re wonderful, then you start believing you’re fabulous, then someone tells you you stink and you believe that too.

Homework’s hard. Especially math. My kids joke with me. They tell me they have homework. I say, ‘Okay.’ And then I sit down and they say, ‘It’s math.’ ‘No! Not math! English, history, anything!’

I’d like to believe that the people that have supported me in my work or identified with me in films, the people that feel they know me, they do and they don’t have misconceptions – they understand. I believe that

I never felt settled or calm. You can’t really commit to life when you feel that.

I’m odd looking. Sometimes I think I look like a funny muppet.

If I think more about death than some other people, it is probably because I love life more than they do.

Oh, God, I struggle with low self-esteem all the time! I think everyone does. I have so much wrong with me, it’s unbelievable!

I love great journalism. I appreciate it. I love a good, you know, I love good news stories. I love great books. I love great articles. I appreciate them so much, and they’ve been part of my education as a woman.

I’m a woman, and anytime you tell a woman that she looks nice, it’s not going to upset her.

To be intimate with a married man, when my own father cheated on my mother, is not something I could forgive. I could not look at myself in the morning if I did that. I wouldn’t be attracted to a man who would cheat on his wife.

I’m just glad I was able to return to some of that innocence and beauty I had as a child when I started my own family, and my children brought me back some of that spirit.

It’s getting harder to make decisions to just want to do something to work… I’m trying to find things that are extremely challenging or mean something to me deeply.

I seem to be getting a lot of things pushed my way that are strong women. It’s like people see Hackers and they send me offers to play tough women with guns, the kind who wear no bra and a little tank top. I’d like to play strong women who are also very feminine.

I’m terrible at reading scripts. I love to read, and I hate reading scripts.

I think I should learn French and be a better cook – basic, really good life stuff.

I like everything. Boyish girls, girlish boys, the heavy and the skinny. Which is a problem when I’m walking down the street.

First and foremost comes my family and my life with Brad. We have so much joy in raising our children and teaching them about the world that nothing really compares to that.

I learned to fly a few years ago in England. It’s the only place I’m completely alone – up in the air, detached from everything.

I loved being Maleficent. I was quite sad to put my staff down and put my horns away because somehow, she just lives in a different world.

There’s people constantly asking you for something on set, so the multi-tasking of motherhood transfers very well to being a director. And I think you’re compassionate.

I always felt caged, closed in, like I was punching at things that weren’t there. I always had too much energy for the room I was in.

All women do have a different sense of sexuality, or sense of fun, or sense of like what’s sexy or cool or tough.

I do have tatoos, and I do wear leather, but there are other sides of me, that my film express.

I’ve told Billy if I ever caught him cheating, I wouldn’t kill him because I love his children and they need a dad. But I would beat him up. I know where all of his sports injuries are

Brad and I have never wanted our kids to be actors, but we also want them to be around film and be a part of Mommy and Daddy’s life and for it not to be kept from them, either. We just want them to have a good, healthy relationship with it.

When I was little… I didn’t relate to princesses. I saw Maleficent, and I just thought she was so – she was so elegant.

My mother was a full-time mother. She didn’t have much of her own career, her own life, her own experiences… everything was for her children. I will never be as good a mother as she was. She was just grace incarnate. She was the most generous, loving – she’s better than me.

Not many people know this about me, but I’m a natural blonde. My hair went from light blonde naturally to a darker kind of blonde. My mother dyed my hair dark when I was a child, as I loved the look then. So I’m basically a natural blonde.

There’s nothing I have to hide or defend. I’m gonna live my life. And there are times when people wanna try to attack me, and I don’t know why, but they will. And that’s okay.

I don’t believe in guilt, I believe in living on impulse as long as you never intentionally hurt another person, and don’t judge people in your life. I think you should live completely free.

We have a choice about how we take what happens to us in our life and whether or not we allow it to turn us. We can become consumed by hate and darkness, or we’re able to regain our humanity somehow, or come to terms with things and learn something about ourselves.

I need more sex, OK? Before I die I wanna taste everyone in the world.

There’s something about death that is comforting. The thought that you could die tomorrow frees you to appreciate your life now.

When I get logical, and I don’t trust my instincts – that’s when I get in trouble.

I like to hide behind the characters I play. Despite the public perception, I am a very private person who has a hard time with the fame thing.

I never thought I’d have children; I never thought I’d be in love, I never thought I’d meet the right person. Having come from a broken home – you kind of accept that certain things feel like a fairy tale, and you just don’t look for them.

I have so much in my life. I want to be of value to the world.

The moment you have a child, in an instant your life is not for you, and your life is completely, 100 percent dedicated to another human being, and they will always come first. It changes you forever. It changes your perspective, and it gives you a nice purpose and focus.

I don’t see myself as beautiful, because I can see a lot of flaws. People have really odd opinions. They tell me I’m skinny, as if that’s supposed to make me happy.

If you ask people what they’ve always wanted to do, most people haven’t done it. That breaks my heart.

I don’t think the money people in Hollywood have ever thought I was normal, but I am dedicated to my work and that’s what counts.

To be in any way a positive contribution, that’s all anybody wants to be. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to be. I wanted to be an artist, be a mother. You want to feel that in your life you’ve been of use, in whatever way that comes out.

Real food, I’ve found, is actually better than dieting.

Sadly, of course, there is real evil in the world. You watch the news, and you see all of the people suffering and so much cruelty.

I didn’t really want to live, so anything that was an investment in time made me angry… but also I just felt sad. When the hopelessness is hurting you, it’s the fixtures and fittings that finish you off.

I’m getting a wrinkle above my eyebrow because I just can’t stop lifting it, and I love that you know.

Make bold choices and make mistakes. It’s all those things that add up to the person you become.

I’m happy being myself, which I’ve never been before. I always hid in other people, or tried to find myself through the characters, or live out their lives, but I didn’t have those things in mine.

There’s certainly a side of me that isn’t completely… sane. Or completely ‘even’ all the time. We all have our dark sides.

I always wanted a great love affair: something that feels big and full, really honest, and enough. No moment should feel slight, false, or a little off. For me, it had to be everything.

I’ve never lived my life in the opinion of others. I believe I’m a good person. I believe I’m a good mom. But that’s for my kids to decide, not for the world.

If I make a fool of myself, who cares? I’m not frightened by anyone’s perception of me.

Without pain, there would be no suffering, without suffering we would never learn from our mistakes. To make it right, pain and suffering is the key to all windows, without it, there is no way of life.

If you don’t get out of the box you’ve been raised in, you won’t understand how much bigger the world is.

I am a strong believer that without justice, there is no peace. No lasting peace, anyway.

I grew up as this very carefree, happy kid then things turned darker for me. Maybe it was because I saw that the world wasn’t as happy a place as I had hoped it would be for me.

If every choice you make comes from an honest place, you’re solid, and nothing anybody can say about you can rock you or change your opinion

The side of fairytales I don’t like is that they always have happy endings, that there’s just good and evil, and things are perfect. But life is a little more complicated, and that’s what I try to teach my kids.

Where ever I am I always find myself looking out the window wishing I was somewhere else.

People wonder aloud about whether I am an okay mother. That is obviously painful because it’s so important to me. It’s hard to hear that people think I’m not a capable mother and a good person, that they just think I’m nuts.

I’ve learned that we all change constantly. It’s rare to find that person who is growing with you in the same way at the same time, who encourages you to grow

It’s hard to be clear about who you are when you are carrying around a bunch of baggage from the past. I’ve learned to let go and move more quickly into the next place.

War is so complex; human nature is so complex. There’s no filmmaker who has ever figured it out perfectly.

I was the punk outsider who nobody messed with. I was fearless. At 16, I graduated and moved out.

I am deeply grateful to the citizens of Sarajevo and the Sarajevo Canton assembly for bestowing upon me this incredible honor of citizenship. I am so proud to now be a part of such an extraordinary part of the world and fellow citizen to the people I deeply love and admire.

Life comes with many challenges. The ones that should not scare us are the ones we can take on and take control of.

I want to work; then, as my kids get older, I want to have adventures. I want to visit all their countries: learn and live inside all their cultures.

Everyone got kind of crazy with me mentioning I was in love with a woman.

When other little girls wanted to be ballet dancers I kind of wanted to be a vampire.

I don’t see the point of doing an interview unless you’re going to share the things you learn in life and the mistakes you make. So to admit that I’m extremely human and have done some dark things I don’t think makes me unusual or unusually dark. I think it actually is the right thing to do, and I’d like to think it’s the nice thing to do.

I’ve realized that being happy is a choice. You never want to rub anybody the wrong way or not be fun to be around, but you have to be happy. When I get logical and I don’t trust my instincts – Thats when I get in trouble.

Maleficent has suffered abuse in the past, and there’s a reason why she is now as furious as she is. And I think that children who have been outcast and abused in any way will relate to her. There’s a beautiful side to her; she’s not just a dark person. She has all these facets. And that is interesting.

Sometimes I think my husband is so amazing that I don’t know why he’s with me. I don’t know whether I’m good enough. But if I make him happy, then I’m everything I want to be.

Like every parent, when you start your family, your life completely changes. And you completely live for someone else. I find that the most extraordinary thing. Your life is handed over to someone else. From that moment on, they come first in every choice you make. It’s the most wonderful thing.

I think the depth, what children can handle and what they’re interested in, is much deeper than I think what people assume. I think it’s why sometimes we make things too simple for them.

The truth is I love being alive. And I love feeling free. So if I can’t have those things then I feel like a caged animal and I’d rather not be in a cage. I’d rather be dead. And it’s real simple. And I think it’s not that uncommon.

It’s a great thing about being pregnant – you don’t need excuses to pee or to eat.

Honestly, I like everything, boyish girls, girlish boys, the heavy and the skinny.

I was of the generation where most of the Disney princesses and female characters were not girls that I admired. They just weren’t characters I looked up to and identified with.

I’m not somebody that just wants to hold up a white flag and say, ‘Let’s all just get along.’ I think people that do horrible things should be held accountable.

When I first went to places where people were suffering from war and persecution, I felt ashamed of my feelings of sadness. I could see more possibilities in my life.

I think all women go through periods where we hate this about ourselves, we don’t like that. It’s great to get to a place where you dismiss anything you’re worried about. I find flaws attractive. I find scars attractive.

Women have a certain sexuality, and I think their bodies are beautiful, and I’m not embarrassed to explore that in a film. But there are things you get offered that are vulgar and violent – just like there’s a side of me that’s vulgar and violent.