“Living in L.A., everyone likes to mold you and change you. I don’t care about fame, I don’t care about being a celebrity. I know that’s part of the job, but I don’t feed into anyone’s idea of who I should be.”

It feels like I’m starting to come into my own in terms of where I want to go artistically, toward more complicated, interesting characters.

It’s not always so great to be objectified, but I don’t feel I have much of a choice right now. I’m young in my career. I know I have to strike when the iron is hot.

I get all these screenplays that start ‘Tawnya is in the shower. The water streams down her naked, perky breasts’. I don’t think this is happening to Natalie Portman.

Your husband or your wife is the only person you can really choose to be your family and to have unconditional love with them.

I don’t think it serves any minority or underrepresented group to be coddled. Because the world won’t coddle you. So I actually believe in tough love, hard truths, black and white.

I could have sexual chemistry with vinegar.

Everyone has an opinion of who you are and what your relationship is about, things that you’ve done or didn’t do in your relationship – and it’s just all crap, really. Things that are written about it are all crap.

I don’t hang out with the Hollywood cool people. I’m not out trying to make friends with people because they’re famous.

Movies are the shadiest business in the world.

You have to be the best of whatever you are, but successful, cool actresses come in all shapes and sizes.

There’s no such thing as a perfect guy. I think it would be strange if somebody was absolutely everything you always wanted, because then there’d be no challenge. Also, you’d feel inferior.

I really like older British guys – I don’t think any of them would ever have a problem with crying in front of a woman or saying “I love you” or “You hurt me” or emotional stuff like that.

No one gives Cameron Diaz a hard time for not speaking Spanish.

I’m not trying to do stuff for my kids necessarily all the time, but when you get the odd opportunity to do something for them that they could enjoy its cool.

Love is ever evolving and it takes compromise, work and patience.

It’s been liberating to be able to play someone who’s a bada– or promiscuous, because that’s the opposite of who I am … It’s like a drug.

Every day is an opportunity for a new life. Every day you stand at the tipping point of your life. And on any one day you can change the future – through the way that you feel.

Every day is an opportunity for a new life. Every day you stand at the tipping point of your life. And on any one day you can change the future – through the way that you feel.

Don’t be afraid to take time to learn. It’s good to work for other people. I worked for others for 20 years. They paid me to learn.

Every single second is an opportunity to change your life, because in any moment you can change the way you feel.

I laughed. Partly at the joke, partly at how Afghan humor never changed. Wars were waged, the Internet was invented, and a robot had rolled on the surface of Mars, and in Afghanistan we were still telling Mullah Nasruddin jokes.

Going out of style isn’t a natural process, but a manipulated change which destroys the beauty of last year’s dress in order to make it worthless.

I opened my mouth, almost said something. Almost. The rest of my life might have turned out differently if I had. But I didn’t.

Ducking for apples — change one letter and it’s the story of my life.