I was very ambitious at a young age. When I was six, I would tell everybody that I wanted to be an authoress.

It never occurred to me to be a film director, partly because I hadn't seen a single film by a female director, but I liked the idea of being a writer moving to Hollywood and being unhappy; that sounded romantic and fabulous to me.

I wonder if Bettie Page original gay cult had something to do with the ironies inherent in her image, as well as her innate fabulousness as an image.

I'm bored by films that revolve around a trick. I kind of know if a film is right for me; all the most important decisions are made intuitively.

At any age you can start over. You have to drop the idea of where you should be in your career. And you have to do without a lot of love. Not everyone's going to love you.

Bettie Page was the first person to do bondage as fashion, because for her it really was all about dressing up.

It's interesting that gay men and young women have been the twin engines of the Bettie [Page] cult.