- [on Showgirls (1995)] I decided to make my part campy because I initially thought that it was going to be really dark and really intense and then it just turned out to be completely different. So instead of going in that direction, I decided to make it so that drag queens would want to dress as my character on Halloween.
- All I wanted to do was play "Conrad Birdie"; I really wanted to be like the Elvis Presley guy, and they ended up giving me the lead, "Rosie".
- All my roles are different parts of my personality. Hannah is the caretaker part of me, the psychologist in Prague Duet (1998) ... is the part of me that's always analyzing, Guinevere's Billie is the artistic side.
- Being the control freak that I am, I want to know everything beforehand. At this point I'm just going along for the ride.
- A lot of my friends are struggling musicians. Being a struggling actor, it's just frustrating because you're not allowed to do what you want to do
- Actresses are nightmares. I don't hang out with any of them. That's a problem with my profession. I try not to be like an actress.
- I'm just nervous and anxious all the time - I drink too much coffee. But you know, everything can be solved with a bottle; the bottle is a universal cure-all - and not just a booze bottle, any bottle. You break up with your boyfriend, you get a bottle of peroxide. You get sad, you have a drink. Need to sleep? Get a bottle of pills. Baby needs to be calmed down? Give it a bottle. There are genies in bottles.
- Showgirls (1995) was a great lesson in power. People would come up to me - like smarmy guys usually saying, 'So, you're doing Showgirls,' and they'd kind of look me over. And I would look them dead in the eye and go, 'Yeah. I run around naked in it and I kiss beautiful girls - it's great.' And they would visibly shrink away because I didn't back down. They were trying to have control over me, but as long as you're proud of what you're doing, and say so, people can't fuck with you, they'll respect you for your choices. If you act embarrassed, then you know you shouldn't be doing whatever it is.
- I kinda wish I could be a lesbian. So many girls come up to me all the time, I keep thinking, "God, I should be a lesbian." But unfortunately, I'm straight.
- [on studying - and in particular, doing dream work - with Sandra Seacat, from 1998 interview in Cigar Aficionado] Sandra totally changed my acting. Instinctively, I was always in love with psychology and my dream life had always been very important to me. Ever since I was 15 years old I had been writing down my dreams. What's really exciting to me about Sandra's work is that it changes your life, almost on a psychic level. Now I'll get parts and in working on them, she'll say, 'Well, let's see how you're developing, as a human being.' Because the parts you're doing, it's no accident. Those parts affect your life and they kind of illustrate the map that your life is following. When I'm working on a certain project, before I go to bed I actually ask questions. So you dictate what kind of dream you're going to have. You say, 'I need to find out this.' There's a whole ritual about how to go about it. And then Sandra will work on it with you. Then, in classes with her, you'll actually cast them and act them out, which is unbelievable. You almost change the molecules in your body by doing that. It's really powerful. The first couple of times I did that, I actually got physically sick the rest of the week. It was super-powerful... I've worked with Sandra for many years now and she's been a huge influence on my life. She was in the [Actors] Studio with Brando and those guys [sic], and everyone said that as an actress she was incredible. But I think her true calling in life was to become a teacher.
- On Bound (1996) My agents didn't want me to do it. Literally, I was told, "You are ruining your career doing this movie. We will not let you do this movie." I never get to play the hero and to get the chick. I mean, it's the typical part that I've watched my whole life, and it's never been a woman. I left my agents over it.
- [dancing nude in Showgirls] My nudity scenes involved dancing in front of 600 people. You're on a big stage and you feel that you're actually doing a show. A lot of Elizabeth's [Berkeley] stuff was in front of an audience, too.
- [type of roles she prefers] I like it if I can just do a couple of scenes with really great directors. It's more satisfying than a huge part in something that's a disaster.
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