The better you know yourself, the better your relationship with the rest of the world.
Toni Collette
My plan is to have no plan. If you know what plan you have, life has its own ideas and will take you in any direction it pleases. So my idea about life is to just be open to it and to go with the flow and go with my gut.
I wish I had more patience.
I want variety. I want versatility. Otherwise, I'm wasting the opportunity of being an actor, which is all about variation and change.
I think that the Japanese culture is one of the very few cultures left that is its own entity. They're just so traditional and so specific in their ways. It's kind of untouched, it's not Americanized.
The way a character looks reflects what's on the inside. I can make myself look really bad, and I can make myself look kind of gorgeous. It's not about me; it's about the character.
We were just covered in dirt the whole time. It was so hot - and that was in winter. I can not imagine what it's like in summer and how the people who actually live out there survive.
I'm a fan of music, some rock music. But I like many types of music. But I suppose a kind of longstanding love of specific bands would be Radiohead, Wilco, Neil Young, Tom Waits, REM.
I don't feel I owe anyone anything.
I believe the more important thing is your mind and your heart. Those two things are the most ignored parts of our beings.
I grew up watching a lot of American television and so the American sound has been in my psyche somehow for a long time and is quite familiar and so that does make it easier.
People are so fearful about opening themselves up. All you want to do is to be able to connect with other people. When you connect with other people, you connect with something in yourself. It makes you feel happy. And yet it's so scary - it makes people feel vulnerable and unsafe.
I can't imagine a world without music.
The potential strength of female friendship and the bonds that can be formed, especially over a lifelong relationship, is very profound.
Hal Ashby is one of my favorite filmmakers.
Oh, I definitely want to direct. I have young children. My job is already big enough, and I imagine it will be even more so as a director, and I don't want to miss out on them growing up. I'm going to wait until they're a bit older before I leap into that seat.
After 'Muriel's Wedding,' I first went to America, and I was sent all these scripts about fat girls overcoming hurdles. Something in me knew not to go down that road, even if it was a good script.
I hate sitting around labouring over things. I love just getting into it.
To tell you the truth, my father says I came out of the womb literally singing and dancing, as though there was a spotlight on me. When I ask what I was like when I was little, they just say 'loud.'
Planning and worrying and chaos in your mind? Forget it. What's the point of that?
An accent in a way can be an entry into a character.
The one thing I want to do - and I am doing - is starting my own production company, for me to produce and direct in the future. Have a bit more say and control - become the storyteller more than just the character. I want to choose the story, plant the seed, and watch it grow. I just want to have a bit more involvement.
My life is fancy dress, so I prefer not to do it in my spare time.
Also, I think having a musicality about me that helps in identifying different things in languages and getting them right.
I'm starting to realise that there are certain themes that I return to, those being that there is no such thing as normal, and people finding their voice and living authentically. And also that you can be influenced and helped through an extended family.
There are actors who are really fantastically talented at being natural on screen and appearing to be themselves, but I like the challenge of becoming somebody else.
Lars Von Trier is a genius. Every film he makes is so honest and powerful.
I love working. I love it! It makes me feel awake and alive and appreciative, as does my family, but in a different way. If I was told I couldn't do it, I think I would wither and die.
Travelling's so much better when you know you've got a lovely home to go back to.
I think it's important to relax in general. I don't try to save up my relaxing for one month period of the year; it's kind of a daily practice that I've tried to remain aware of.
Being in the desert was brilliant and it was hard.
I'm glad that it was so physical and so isolated.
Sometimes it was so quiet, it's frightening. It really prioritizes things.
Cameron and I actually do wear the same size. It made it very easy for the wardrobe department.
I'm very happy with my lot. I like the variety I get. You don't want to spend your life repeating yourself. It's true of any kind of artist, you want to explore as wide and far as you can go, so that's what I've been trying to do.
I like being married, but it was never something I felt I had to do.
I try to play real people who inspire me through something in their journey.
I don't try to live the life of my character but I think it's inevitable that there is some carry-over into your life.
I kind of realized I could sing, so I played around with that for a while. And that led me to acting in itself, which I came more passionate about by the age of 15.
I love kids, so working with them wasn't a problem.
I don't mind where I work, it's really nice to be able to travel around and taste the flavours of different countries.
I have trouble admitting I'm wrong.
I think being the conventional beauty is limiting, so I'm glad I'm not that. If I looked different, I wouldn't have the great opportunities I've had.
When I look at a character, I never look at the size of the role. I always look at the whole person, no matter how much they're featured in the movie.
I have to say, I feel really lucky. I've had a lot of great characters to play.
I guess in Australia every film is sort of an indie film because there are no studios.
Independent films have a certain freedom about them - there isn't so much at stake in terms of money. I think they're more interesting because they're not watered down to appeal to the masses. They tend to have a unique voice.
I love holidays. It's such a wonderful time for the whole family to be together and not have to worry about schedules and that kind of thing.
I love rides. I'm such an immature person.
Whether it's a movie I'm in or not, if there's a good movie, and it's low budget, and you know everyone's done it just because they were passionate about it and they cared for it, if it has any kind of audience, it's just a wonderful outcome.
