“Proving people wrong is probably my favorite thing to do.”

There is a lot you can find out about yourself through knowing about history. I have always been attracted to things that are old. I have just always found such things interesting and compelling.

We all know guys who’ve had their hearts broken in real life; we just don’t usually see it in the movies.

I think making a movie or a record, the best things happen by accident – and those end up being the magic. Every time I’ve followed my gut it’s been better than when I’ve tried to do what I was supposed to do.

I’ve always been really picky about roles and make a point of reminding myself that it’s not about the money – because, obviously, there’s a lot of money to be made in this business if you’re willing to do anything.

I’ve never pursued a role. I always hear stories about actors going after parts and I’m, like, ‘How do they do that?’ It seems so weird. It seems like a total myth or something.

I appreciate a songwriter like Morrissey with so much restraint.

My biggest complaint with tights is that they do not accommodate skinny-ankled people like myself.

I did go through this period where girls would be mean and I had a lot of guy friends. But I’ve found as an adult the importance of having female and male friends.

I was doing about five movies a year for many years. I was just so tired. I walked around feeling like a Mack truck hit me.

It’s really fun to say no sometimes. I just don’t want to discount how fun it is to say no and exercise your right to say no, and – as a girl – it’s important to know how to say no… and that no means no!

That’s one of the most exciting things for me about listening to records: It’s a moment in time, and the less it’s messed with the more powerful it is. I wanted at least one song on the record to be just completely about the moment.

I think my knowledge of music theory is rooted in jazz theory, and a lot of the writers of standards – Rodgers and Hart, and Gershwin.

I’ve always been a late bloomer with a lot of things, just in general, so I think this was something that needed to come to fruition in this particular way.

I don’t like to plan harmonies too much, because there’s something fun that happens when you just sing a pass, then sing another pass, and layer them on top of each other.

California is a great big nation of one They never knew what they wanted ’til it was already gone

It’s very much a piece of myself when I write a song. I don’t mean to say it’s very personal, like the lyrics mean something personal to me. When I write a song, that’s my taste in music – my taste in chord progressions and melodies.