- I think the measure of your success to a certain extent will be the amount of things written about you that aren't true.
- [on her film debut in The Last Picture Show (1971) and her romance with its director. Peter Bogdanovich] When a film wraps, the actors often like to keep some of their props or wardrobe as mementos. I wanted the heart-shaped locket and brown and white saddle shoes that Jacy wore, but his wife Polly [Polly Platt] was in charge of costumes and wouldn't give them to me. I guess she figured I had enough of a souvenir: her husband.
- I never wanted to be Jane. I always wanted to be Tarzan. I didn't want to vacuum the tree house. I wanted to swing from the vines.
- [on Marilyn Monroe] She had curves in places most other women don't even have places.
- I did the nasty with Elvis [Elvis Presley]. This man loved to eat. But there was one thing he wouldn't eat . . . 'til he met me.
- My home is different from my mother's, because hers is filled with beautiful objects that I was always afraid of breaking. My home is the opposite. Bring on the kids, the dogs, the parties - there's nothing that's so important it can't be broken.
- I was born and bred to be a great flirt.
- Your policemen are such wonderful hunks.
- I had to lie so much about sex, first when I was 15 because I wasn't supposed to be having it. And when I got older, I lied to everybody I was having sex with, so I could have sex with other people.
- [Her reaction when Martin Scorsese wanted to cast a Cybill Shepherd type for Taxi Driver (1976)] My anxiety was palpable. What's a Cybill Shepherd type anyway? With my little pilot light of insecurity fanned by a few years' worth of scathing reviews, I thought: Maybe I'm not even good enough to play my own type. But I admired all of Scorsese's films.
- [Her reaction when George Cukor rejected her for Travels with My Aunt (1972) saying she had no comedic talent] A celebrated director had gone out of his way to be brutally discouraging, and I whimpered, worried, agonized, and almost believed him. But even though I've given up lots of times in my life, I usually only allow myself a week or two of sulk. Like the little engine that could, I get back on track. Ultimately no public or private humiliation has ever stopped me.
- [on her Daisy Miller (1974) leading man Barry Brown] No one realized that he was in the last stages of an addiction that would cause him to take his life just a few years later. He was glum and withdrawn, and his breakfast of champions consisted of beer, coffee, and Valium, a pattern that couldn't help but affect the shooting schedule.
- The grain of truth in this controversy was that of course I was envious. Who doesn't want to win an Emmy?
- [on nudity in films, 1986] Women are expected to expose themselves, men aren't. It's not fair. And in my experience, men have had their clothes off a lot quicker than I did. In films, it's usually the reverse.
- If you stand up for yourself and you're a man, they admire you. If you stand up for yourself and you're a woman, they call you a bitch.
- I think, I'm a better mother because I work. I wouldn't be very happy at home all day long. Working makes me treasure my time at home.
- I think that "great love of your life" stuff is bullshit. That there's one person, Prince Charming, who's going to come in and sweep you off your feet, that you'll never love again, all that dramatic -- treacle.
- Feminists are moving away from the area we really need to concentrate on, the impoverisation [impoverishment] of women and children.
- Everybody's childhood is an emotional survival course.
- I'm my own manager now, and I don't like the men I'm dating telling me how to act.
- Nursing a baby is one of the few things in life you know is unequivocally the best thing.
- Peter Bogdanovich was the first man who ever treated me as an equal intellectually. If you think of a person as a circle, I had a huge wedge of myself that was empty, which was confidence. And he helped fill that. And then he helped me get to the point where I could do things to fill myself up.
- [on her worst job ever done] A movie called The Return (1980) that was about cows from outer space.
- The funny thing about fame is that you're never really a famous person. It's like you get famous, and you're like a wick -- you have this wick that you stick in this bottle of red oil, and the wick turns red very quickly, and you're famous all of a sudden, and then after a while the wick dries out. And it's like you were never famous. It happens very quickly. I saw it happen.
- [referring to her newborn twins, when they're 10 week old] Sometimes I feel closer to one than to the other. They seem to take turns. Ariel [Ariel Ladensohn] was smaller, so she was a fussier baby. Then she gained some weight, and when she smiled at me the first time, I thought the sun had come out. And it was 4 in the morning... People don't realize how much work they are; we have babies crying in stereo. I'm glad they weren't triplets.
- Professionalism is a fine combination of art and business. You've got to be strong in both areas.
- Interviews are like therapy. The only thing is, you don't get the same kind of feedback. But it's cheaper.
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