It's okay to lose. Losing teaches you something. Having to try and going through the trials and tribulations to actually overcome, to get there to win, to triumph, that's what makes life interesting.
Elizabeth Banks
Someone told me that having a baby is like having your heart walking around outside of your body, and I didn't understand it until I had a baby. Now, like, everything he does literally crushes my heart. In a great way. And then if he's in pain, it's like my whole endeavor is to make sure he's not in pain.
I have a gay cousin who came out to my parents before he came out to his own. So I benefited from having a very open, supportive family, and I want to pass that on.
I love improv. I do it with my co-star John Michael Higgins in both 'Pitch Perfect' films.
I played softball. I was on an all-star team. I traveled with the team. I loved it.
I am not afraid of much. I kill all the spiders in my house, and I'm planning to go skydiving. I am into girl power, and I'm very self-sufficient.
I had an audition for Mary Jane Watson in 'Spiderman' and ended up playing Betty Brant in that series. I auditioned for Amy Adams' role in 'Catch Me If You Can' and, you know, ended up playing the bank teller. So there were a lot of times early on where I felt like I was always sort of the bridesmaid, never the bride - never quite right.
Every once in a while I play a true idiot, and they're really fun to play.
I'm not a fan of plastic surgery. Oh, and I've never had a wax in my life. Waxing makes no sense to me because you have to grow it out to wax it.
I try not to repeat myself too often, but it's a gamble. 'Fred Claus' had three Oscar winners in it. No business - it was a bad movie.
Portion control is a real problem. My husband and I always split one appetizer and one entree. I'm sure waiters hate us.
When I was in college I was accused of being a goody two-shoes. But every goody two-shoes has a bad side.
'Pitch Perfect 2,' those scenes are super fun. It's just me and John Michael Higgins, and we've been friends for so long, we just have the best time. Anything I do with him is some of my favorite stuff.
Klutziness is endearing. I like imperfection.
The great thing about Twitter is, you get a lot back, and I read through a lot, and I want my fans to know that I do read a lot, and it's why I do respond or retweet clever posts, and I'm constantly amazed by the cleverness of people on Twitter.
I only know the lyrics to songs that I listened to between the ages of 11 and 15.
I directed plays in college. It's something that I have sort of always put in the back of my mind, and I'm a busy actress, and it's very difficult to sort of find the time, honestly, to commit to directing. It's a very - it's a big, big job.
One predictor for divorce is contempt, which to me is just another word for disrespect.
It's not good to put in a magazine what I weigh because it's too little. People freak out when they hear what I weigh. They think, 'Oh, you're too skinny.'
I'm very genetically blessed; I cannot deny it, but I work hard at keeping myself together. Yes, I have nice cheekbones and skinny legs, but I can't take any credit for it.
Your funny gets developed pretty early on. Comedy requires that you understand as much as possible about the viewpoints of all people and everything that's going on around you. It genuinely requires a true point of view, a real sense of your own view of things in the world.
Most men I know rely on women to do all the literal dirty work.
I play Rock Band, which is Guitar Hero times ten. You can play with four people, so when you have parties, you have a real band. Nobody ever wants to sing, so I'm always the one throwing down on the mic.
My father is a huge horse racing fan, so I was introduced to the sport long before 'Seabiscuit.' But the role made me an even bigger fan. Horse racing is one of my favorite sports.
I went to drama school. I'm classically trained; I studied Shakespeare, blah blah blah. But I always preferred to do Oscar Wilde, or Shakespeare's comedies over his dramas.
Predicting what content is going to fly is like looking into a crystal ball. I try not to say, 'Yeah, 'Bridesmaids' opened the door to make more movies about women.' I mean, did it? I don't know; where are they?
Violence against women is real and something I feel passionately about, and the gateway to all that is wolf whistling. It's allowing a man to impose his will on a woman who is just trying to walk down the street and live her life. It's all about unwanted versus wanted attention, and, of course, there's a fine line.
Producing never stops. It's 24/7.
'Thank you' is often an admission that you needed something that wasn't being fulfilled or you couldn't do on your own, so you needed someone else. There is also guilt. We think, 'Well, too much time has gone by, and it doesn't matter,' but it does. It always matters.
You have got to have an agent. It's a business. But I think there is a way to be artful and commercial at the same time.
If I ever complain about yachting around the Mediterranean with Madonna, who I just idolized as a child, I should be slapped across the face.
I love working with a stylist but I also love having personal relationships with designers. A stylist is great for pulling together an entire outfit, accessories included, and for shaking me out of my comfort zone.
I like my coffee light.
I actually think that secrets are just a part of human nature and that everybody should have some.
I love physical comedy. I love Oscar Wilde, I love Shakespeare comedies, I love improv.
When you live in a leading lady's body, which I do, you have to constantly prove that you are funny.
Some big actresses told me a few things that inspired me. One said that the biggest challenge for a female actress was to make sure they are not profoundly bored. Another told me to just do whatever you want - do anything.
I don't stay in my trailer. I like to sit in video village, probably to the annoyance of some producers and directors, because they really love to talk about actors, and they can't in front of me.
I like entertaining people. I want to make big entertainment.
No matter what, I'm in a very small club. There are very few women who have directed studio-level commercial films - very few.
The sexism in Hollywood is not particularly overt - because the system is good at hiding it.
I went to a few really bad commercial auditions because I needed the money, and when you booked a commercial, your life was made: you could eat.
Honestly, I am hoping to influence young people, and Twitter's a great way to encourage them to lend their voice to the conversation. Any time you can show young people that you support gay friends and that there are gay people in the world who are lovely, happy, singing, and in love, it opens their minds.
I grew up in a very small town, but it happened to be in western Massachusetts, where there were a lot of gay people. I remember my aunt going to a gay wedding when I was 11, and I thought it was the coolest thing.
What I love about Twitter specifically is that reciprocity is not guaranteed, nor expected. In other words, I can go one way. I can put things out. I don't have to respond to everybody.
I think people respond to me as a down-to-Earth, girl-next-door person, because I am one of those people. That's something I don't have to act very hard at.
I didn't quite believe I was pretty for a long time. I never thought about it.
I suppose the best advice I ever got, frankly the advice that changed my life, came from my uncle who told me to go to drama school and study acting instead of taking a job, because he said the job would always be there.
I grew up sort of lower working class. And I just didn't want to have the money struggles that my parents had. You know, I could just - as loving an environment I grew up in - and I grew up in a great home, a very loving home - but, you know, we had that stress. We had that stress in our life.
Sometimes I'm sexy, and sometimes I'm not.
