Every day, every birthday candle I blow out, every penny I throw over my shoulder in a wishing well, every time my daughter says, 'Let's make a wish on a star,' there's one thing I wish for: wisdom.
Rene Russo
In June 1972, I went with friends to see the Rolling Stones at the Los Angeles Forum. After the concert, as we crossed through the parking lot, a guy in a brown Mercedes stopped in the middle of the street and got out. He came up to me and asked if I had ever modeled.
Being married, I would say most relationships are pretty codependent in some ways.
I think I was pigeonholed pretty early on. And I started late in my career. I was 33.
I always try to find some part of a character that exists in me and plug that in.
I always thought I'm kind of a tough girl.
Beauty and youth can stay inside, but it doesn't outside.
I'm a California girl, and I'd love to restore a sense of place to Southern California.
I understand that there's a certain energy in youth, no question, in terms of pursuing jobs. But there is wisdom in age. It's too bad that the two can't come together because I do think that people are dropped from what they're really good at too soon.
I never thought I could model, and I certainly never thought about acting. It's just something that happened to me.
'Tin Cup' was great because I loved the comedy aspect of it, so that was good.
I grew up in Burbank - but not the Burbank of valet parking and TV studios. In the late 1950s, there was a small apartment complex on Elmwood Avenue that rented mostly to families on welfare. I lived there from age 3 to 11 and again from 14 to 18 with my mother, Shirley, and my younger sister, Toni.
Unfortunately, I think depression and anxiety are really hard to live with. And what people don't need is to feel bad about themselves because they decide to go on medication.
By high school, I was already tall - 5-foot-8 - and one day I made the mistake of wearing green tights. The football players all started calling me the Jolly Green Giant.
I was a high-school dropout; I was a loner.
I don't know much about sports.
If something comes around that would be a challenge, then that would be wonderful. But if it's a watered-down version of something I've already done, I'd rather do something else.
Strong and in control - I don't necessarily feel that way. I'm a little bit more scattered in my life. I'm more of a street girl, in a way.
When you are desperate, it's usually because of fear.
I was never the kind of person who cared much what people thought about me.
We all do things where we don't care about other people. And we deal with it in whatever ways we can, denial or make excuses.
For me, when I did 'Thor,' they changed my lines at the last minute, and then I had to speak with an English accent - and it was horrifying. I was in front of a crew of 250 people on my first day - never happened to me before.
I'm always drawn to melancholy personalities.
I was raised in a lower-income family, and we were wild.
If I had to design a career for myself, I would have done comedy.
In high school, I was very unpopular.
I was inspecting eyeglass lenses for a while. And I worked as a concession girl in a movie theater. And I was ironing before that. I always had some kind of a job. And then I started modeling.
I envy my daughter's childhood.
That's a really good question - what is it like living with a writer? I guess it depends on the writer. You know what? They live in a fantasy world a lot of the time. My husband lives in a fantasy world.
I don't love getting up at the crack of dawn and having makeup put on my face for three hours - like, I really don't like it - and then having a part that's just not that challenging.
I do love acting the two seconds that you are in front of the camera - and this is going to sound like I'm complaining, and I don't want that because I'm blessed to even have a job - but there is a lot of down-time when you're just sitting in your trailer.
I thought 'Thor' would just be fun.
I loved 'Tin Cup' because even though that character had her own career and was strong, she was pretty confused. I think she was my favorite character because she was well-rounded. She didn't have it all together.
Maybe it's that I'm naive, but I don't think of myself as an age.
I think all writers are different. I've been with a few writers; they're all different.
I always go into a film situation depressed and fearful.
I am self-conscious, and I'm aware of my body. But I struggle with America's limited idea of what perfection is.
I have nothing against younger women and older men on screen. What is sad is that so many women over 40 who have so much to give aren't being considered to play opposite men their own age or younger.
I have an unusual face.
I'm so proud of myself. I thought, 'I've got to learn about American history.' I literally took two months off and watched every documentary known to man. I really didn't know Benjamin Franklin was so cool.
I came out of a culture when there wasn't tweeting and everyone with a camera in their hands. I didn't grow up with it, so I'm not always thinking about it, but there have been times when I looked over, and I saw that someone was recording my conversation.
I had to fend for myself from the time I was 17 years old. I was a high-school dropout. I wasn't quite living on the streets, but I didn't have a lot of hope.
He was an amazing - John McTiernan really was an incredible director, probably the best I've worked with because he constantly busted me when he wasn't getting what he wanted.
Oh, my gosh, I've never seen a film unless, you know, if I have to go and do ADR, loop-loop. But I don't watch after. I'm too critical.
I'm not the kind of person that would step on people just to get where I wanted to be, but I have crossed moral boundaries when I've either been afraid or desperate.
I can say that when you model,when you get to a certain age, that's it for you. I remember there was a time where I was like, 'What am I going to do with my life?' I am a high school dropout who's only modeled. So there was desperation with that.
I had never seen a Marvel comic.
I didn't set out wanting to be an actress. That's not what I did. I didn't go to class striving to become an actress. I just basically - honestly, I didn't have anything else going.
My mom said my whole childhood... was stop and go.
I didn't know who Avedon was. I was 18 years old. I dropped out of high school in the 10th grade. I had no idea.
