"I liked the girly cartoons. I was very much a girly-girl."

"I hate red-carpet photographs!"

"I know kids are supposed to go through these awkward stages, but I just never even thought about that. I was too busy worrying about getting my education while I was working."

"I feel like everyone directs their own career according to their taste, what they migrate to emotionally and what kind of artists they want to work with."

"I think for everyone it's good to have your own personal work on a character and a film before you even start rehearsing, to have an inner life."

"I love to produce, and I've directed two short films."

"A lot of moms give their kids line reads. My mom wasn't put in that position because I always had an acting teacher helping with the feelings rather than how to say something."

"I was a very imaginative and theatrical child and wasn't afraid of being in front of a camera."

"If I'd trusted myself and listened to myself all the times that I ignored myself, I would have been fine. But everyone has to learn their lesson, and now I've got it."

"Everyone goes through a hard time in their life."

"I think it's best to date someone who doesn't do what you do."

"My grandmother lives with my mother in a gorgeous house in the San Fernando Valley. I am afforded these luxuries, and I'm very young."

"It's such a private thing - 'my process' - I can just say that the work that I do is like therapy between me and the character."

"New York vintage is too expensive!"

"I think you see in people's eyes what they've been through. Anything in their lives shows up in their eyes."

"When you feel good is when you're not afraid to feel the worst."

"If you're successful at a young age, no matter the profession, there has to come a time when you reevaluate everything, what it means to you. 'Is this what I want to do for the rest of my life?'"

"I'm always looking for that movie that feels like it's hitting me where I need it."

"What actor do you really take seriously who becomes a singer? It's kind of ridiculous. I can't think of anybody."

"I like people more undone than made up. Patricia Arquette is the ultimate. She's not anorexic or perfectly tan, she's not trying to be anything but what she is, and that's the most sexy thing."

"I don't try to be sexy, but if you are sexy it comes out. If you're not, you're not."

"I've always used my own personal emotions and things that I've gone through in my life to build a character. The work that I do before a film feels almost like therapy, between me and whoever I'm playing."

"I'm a good assistant. That's why I don't have an assistant, because I'm so on it that no one can be as on it as me. I know that."

"What are you going to do if it's the end of the world? You better go out having fun instead of stressing about it."

"I've been an REM fan since I was a little girl. I would jump around to 'Stand' in the mirror."

"When you get older, you feel better about yourself. You're not worried what other people think about you, in general. You just get more comfortable in your skin."

"I never read comics as a kid. I guess I was lazy and watched cartoons instead."

"When I have time off, my friends and I will go to Universal Studios, the movies, out to eat, and shopping. I'm happiest when I'm just hanging out with my friends... it really doesn't matter what we do."

"When I go away to do a movie, I bring the blanket I've had since I was a little girl. It helps me sleep. I also always bring my laptop so I can E-mail friends. And I bring my dog, Beauty, wherever I can."

"I don't live in the spotlight, and I don't live my life in front of the paparazzi. I live very comfortably and quietly as possible."

"I think most human beings go through some sort of depression in their life. And if they don't, I think that's weird."

"Everybody has a mean streak in them, don't they?"

"It's hard to get lost in a scene, to get into a character when everyone's standing around you on the set."

"You really can't explain how you do the things you do. I can't, anyway. I love certain actors, but sometimes they say the stupidest things about technique. I don't want to say something stupid."

"Being an actress doesn't make you popular in school."

"I used to feel like I had to be the best at what I did, but I realized I don't have to be the best. It's so freeing. I've never been this happy."

"When I'm an old lady, I'm going to have my pick of the young men. They'll be like, 'She's Miss Mary Jane!' The young boys will think I'm a hot old lady."

"I don't want to be 'box-office girl,' but I don't want to be 'that indie girl' either."

"The filmmaker is really important to me: it could be their first film; it's not just about their reputation, but I have to really believe in them."

"I attract a different kind of boy when my hair's red. I get more quality men - like a more thoughtful, nerdy dude."

"When you have a beanpole body, everything looks cute. Like Alexa Chung. I like her style, but she's really tall and skinny, so everything looks good on her."

"I'm the kind of person who buys a new thing, wears it so much and then is totally sick of it."

"Most people ask me questions based on a previous interview. That's not an interview. It's like they're just saying my quotes back to me."

"I'm not a very 'this is planned out' person when I get to set. 'This is how I'm going to do it' - I'm never like that."

"I would always rather do a mediocre script with a great filmmaker than a great script with a mediocre filmmaker."

"I really think the key to a film is the chemistry of people."

"You can never get enough of 'Jeopardy.'"

"I think every woman goes through a relationship where she is with a guy that is really not right for her. You get lost in it."

"When I was younger, I always did movies that teenagers would watch, not adults. I did 'Crazy/Beautiful' or comedies like 'Bring It On.'"

"It's weird doing red carpets; it's uncomfortable. But you can have a sense of humor about it."