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

I believe in a set of values I cannot live by.

You dont do an experimental film to become rich, so the people who are involved are involved because they enjoy the creative aspect of it.

The reason of my life is not to be the most beautiful woman in the world.

My father used to say that you could only access culture before cinema by learning to read and write, but that once cinema was invented, knowledge was available to anybody.

Mama wrote a letter to my father saying' I want to work with you' and she ended the letter saying' in Italian I can only say ti amo( I love you)' and of course the press used that to say women are sexual predators, in 1949 they made a first film together,' Stromboli', and they fell in love and my mother became pregnant with my brother Roberto before she could obtain a divorce.

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