My body is very shaped, and I like to be simple. I don't like to use so many colors. My best colors are black, white and blue.

I always wanted children late; I had my first daughter at 39 and the second at 45.

I think we can all be divas, but as an actress, you can't only be the diva; that would be boring. But sometimes, perhaps, it's fun.

When you're in front of the camera, you have to try to create different emotions because even the person making pictures of you needs inspiration. To be 'you' means nothing - you can be so many yous.

It doesn't surprise me that men in their twenties and thirties are often looking for a much older woman. What is the problem with a man of 30 being with a woman of 50? It is a matter of energy and the soul, not a matter of age of the body.

Listen, I had two kids - one when I was 40, one when I was 45. I breastfed for one year, which means I was breastfeeding four years ago. I'm going to move from giving birth to menopause without really realising.

I live in Paris but I feel I am a daughter of Europe.

Men have the power in everything: journalism, acting, direction; in banks, finances, schools. All the laws are made by men. Men think that women, when they're not able to procreate any more, become old. That is not true - they are still amazing!

When I first met Sam Mendes, I was a bit confused and said to him, 'I'm 50 years old. What am I going to do at 50 in a Bond film?'

I like when I have to act and direct; then, when you have to dub, you're by yourself in front of the wall, and I'm always scared that you're not good like when you are in real when you act.

I feel fine and comfortable with myself, but not because I'm beautiful.

I've had old people in my life that I really loved - especially women - so I'm not scared about getting old. It's what's inside that makes us beautiful on the outside.

Sometimes I've done small parts, like with Spike Lee, but it doesn't matter because you want to work with the director.

I'm Italian; I take my time. We're not really fast. We're very slow. I had my first child at 40, my second child at 45, James Bond at 50. I'm so curious as to what's next!

I speak a little Portuguese, but my daughter speaks it better than me. I always feel that Italy is my home, but it is important for my husband that we also live in France. Sometimes we live as a family all together, but as we are two working actors, sometimes we have to be apart. Sometimes I'm shooting a movie; sometimes he is.

I've been working with good directors - the Wachowski brothers, Spike Lee, Terry Gilliam, Mel Gibson... I love American movies, but I love European movies, too, and I want to do both.

Directors don't call you for your beauty but for your talent.

I have always loved lipstick. For women, that love comes from our mother and grandmothers. It's so natural for a woman to open up her mirror and apply lipstick.

I'm not a movie star. I'm just an actress.

When you're in front of the camera, for a small budget or a big budget movie, there's no difference.

I'm a true woman, not a Bond girl. That's why I say all the time, 'James Bond lady,' 'James Bond woman.'

If I do a role where I have to lose weight, I can do that. I eat meat, fish, vegetables, and I lose it right away. But sometimes I do a role where I have to gain weight, and I can tell you I prefer that.

I always wear some make-up, even on quiet days when I am not doing so much with my time. I like to start using Dolce & Gabbana Perfect Finish Creamy Foundation as a base, as it's lighter than air and doesn't make me feel 'caked.'

I think the lawyers are such incredible actors. Can you imagine the performance they have to do every day?

Personally, I find it romantic not to be with someone all the time; you don't get used to someone or take them for granted.

If you believe what you are on the red carpet, then you would have to go see a doctor, and there are so many actors like that. You have to know very well this is a moment of glamour, and when I go back home, I don't have the airbrush, and I have dark circles because I don't have the make-up on.

I have no idea how I'm perceived in America because I don't live the reality of America.

There is this thing in America where actresses reach 40 and go mad. The film industry wants all these young people.

To be a lawyer was too boring for me, for my personality.

I can't say I'm a Bond girl because I'm too mature to be a Bond girl. I say Bond lady; Bond woman. But I'm proud to be a Bond lady, because actually, Bond is the most amazing man.

I have a lot of adrenaline. I have a naturally fast system. But I love to eat, and I am not skinny.

I know very well the difference between my image and who I am.

I like comedies, I like thrillers, I like love stories. Everything is beautiful; it depends if the film is good, who cares? Everything is interesting.

British people don't express when they are in pain. They don't think it's elegant.

An actor works with their soul and their thought.

Do you know who I would love to play? Morticia Addams - then I could use all that darkness to be funny.

If you have a script that's not great, if you have a great director, you can make a great movie, but if you have a great script with a director who's not good, never are you going to have a good movie.

In a couple, sometimes, one or both people have to give up their personal life, dreams and ambitions for the good of the family.

In acting process, it's very difficult to explain. It's something very intimate, very private.

Irreversible is not glamorous at all. I try to do different things because I want to grow as an actress and I like to take risks.

Mel is a great director because he's not just a director, he's an actor, so he knows how to direct actors. I loved working with him. He's great as a director. He's so intelligent. He's generous. I really loved him.

When I have to go to Cannes, that is boring to me.

When I make an American movie it's going to come out all over the world-it doesn't happen the same way for an Italian film or a French film.

I like to do on screen what I'm not in life. In life, I'm much more weak and insecure, and so then you know I like to play characters that are stronger than me.

The most important thing with children is to give them your time. Actually, that's all that matters.

Truly, I am a woman of the last minute. When I was pregnant, I organised three different hospitals because I couldn't decide where I wanted to have my baby: London, Rome or Paris. In the end, I decided to go to Rome, arrived on the Monday and gave birth on the Saturday.

I'm not someone who wakes up at 6 A.M. to go to the gym.

When someone is suffering, you have to see this in the body and the face. I say all the time that actors use their bodies like objects of war.

We had a moment in the '40s and '50s, where female characters were very strong in film, where these incredible roles were written for women like Joan Crawford, like Bette Davis. But then there was a space of time where - I don't know why - it wasn't like that. It became difficult for women to find certain roles after a certain age.

I think the person creates the artist. And I think when you get lost within your person, your artistry get lost, too. It's like in 'Birdman.' Because the artist inside you is attached to your soul. And when you're not attached to yourself anymore, the soul goes away. You can't let that happen.