My mother would only let us go to the musicals.

My parents have not insisted that we go to college, but she wanted us to learn. Teacher, librarian, secretary, nurse. All my siblings were employed. But I wanted to be the boss, an independent contractor.

The [film] business is run by men, and they're basically interested in their own species, and they're not so interested in women belonging to the human race.

My parents used to park us kids at the public library in downtown Honolulu every Saturday. They'd leave us there at 8 A.M. and pick us up at 4 P.M. - so between those hours, you'd better find something to do! I sat upstairs in the picture room and went through opera, ballet, and theater books. I loved the photographs of people wearing elaborate makeup and costumes - they really pulled at me inside. I was in that library every week for years, until I was about 13. I had a rich interior life, because I didn't have much of a social life.

A lot of people say that my life is wasted on me because I could be a bigger asshole than I am, but I've chosen not to be.

You have to think you're the greatest thing since sliced bread, but you have to know that you're not.

Only two groups of people intimidate me absolutely: salespeople and the French.