It's hard to make a living in any of the arts. When most people think of artists, they think of the stars and the celebrities. But that's such a tiny minority of the elites who are able to make those millions of dollars. The reality is that it's very hard for the rest to make a living as an artist. So, you really have to persevere and understand that achieving the sort of success where you're making the big money is like winning the lottery.

In America, they are paranoid about ruining the reputations of people once they are dead and cannot answer back. They have this fascination which to me seems cruel and morbid. I do not want any part of it

Although Dorothy in Blue Velvet was humiliated and hurt by men, basically I could react to how she felt.

I am much more radical in my beliefs than my products represent me to be.

But I don't really see myself as a role model. I'm not a dictator, or someone who wants to be adored!

But my mother loved The Elephant Man, and my father gave David Lynch a scholarship to study in Rome.

I didn't want to become an actress because the competition with my mother would have been to much to live up to.