«I`m not for the death penalty and working on this film didn’t really change anything for me. If anything it made me more aware of how ineffective it is.»
«I don`t think condemning people who murder and then killing them necessarily sends out the right message. And I have a huge problem with the way these people are used as political pawns.»
(On the revelation that Charlize`s mother shot and killed Charlize`s father while he was in a drunken rage. The shooting was ruled self-defense): I was always Mama`s girl, and I always felt like her protector.
Women have conquered the world. And with everything we go through, it`s about time we had a female president. I don`t think we`re that far away, but it should have happened already. I wouldn`t be surprised if Hillary Rodham Clinton runs - I really admire her.
I`ve always been very proud to be a South African and I`ve always been very honest to people about that. And whatever I can do in my power I promise you I will do. I don`t think it`s too much pressure. I think it`s our duty as citizens of this country. You don`t have to win an Oscar to do something good for your country. We all can do that. If I can be an encouragement for that I`ll be glad to be that.
I think of myself as a highly sexual creature. I have to use that. I have no choice. I like it. I didn`t grow up with a mother telling me what was under my clothes was bad or evil.
Looks alone won`t get you that far. It may get you in the door, but there`s always somebody younger, somebody prettier. You have to rely on something else.
What kind of stories can you tell with glamor? There are very few stories of conflict you can tell, right? I look for good stories; I`m not driven by anything other than good filmmakers and good stories. And then my job as an actor is to service those stories as well as I possibly can. The physical is the last thing that drives me.
I live a very simple life. I don`t have to make those giant movies. I don`t have a yacht or a private plane. As long as I can maintain this life, which is pretty low-maintenance and simple, then all of a sudden you don`t have to worry about all that stuff. I don`t have to take a job to pay a mortgage on a house I can`t afford.
I`ve always said that I worry about being with a man who doesn`t flirt.
On a possible biopic of her life: `God I hope not. I`ve been working harder than anything in my life to try and keep my life sacred. I really don`t mind when I`m in front of a camera and playing a character I`m comfortable with... but I don`t necessarily like the spotlight to be about me - not at all. The idea of sitting in Cannes and watching that... ugh. No.`
And I was victim to that very early in my career, where I would go into auditions, and I`d be wearing a big T shirt, a big baggy T shirt and loose jeans. You know, to try and show people that there was more to me than just that.
I am human, and, yeah, I have very bad days.
I grew up on Bette Davis movies, and Marlene Dietrich, Marilyn Monroe.
I have been working a lot, and I like it. And you know, it`s hard for me not to. I guess I`ve been working a lot because I get to play with brilliant people.
I like what I do, and I`m very fortunate now to be in a very nice place. Which is that I don`t have to work anymore. So the work that I do now is purely because I really want to.
I mean I tried to transform myself through characters throughout my career.
I mean, I`m new but I`ve always been very interested in film making process and I`ve been lucky enough to work with film makers in my past that have been very encouraging to let me hang around. I get so emotionally vested - that the producer part of me was natural.
I only worked on Men of Honor for three weeks, but I walked away with so much. Because Bob is the kind of actor who gives you the opportunity to really go there. And we really had to go there. I mean, we were both playing drunks.
I think in life we want to challenge ourselves.
I think today women are very scared to celebrate themselves, because then they just get labeled.
I`d love to get pajamas. Good, nice and warm flannel ones.
I`m happy for people who want to get married. It`s not my thing.
If I don`t like seeing myself on the screen, I think when I start seeing that, that`s when I think I`ll stop.
If they ever do my life story, whoever plays me needs lots of hair color and high heels.
So I did that for a long time in my career, and I waited for parts to play myself just physically down a little bit. But I do feel like I`m at a place in my career now where I don`t necessarily fret about that too much anymore.
Something I learned very early on in my career is that there are a lot of things that you do not have any power over.
They really stay just characters to me. I look at them, and I don`t see always the same person up there. And hopefully, people will see that too. Because it`s very easy to bore people, and that`s a killer. So hopefully that won`t happen.
When they watch a movie and they know that you`re in a relationship, you just kind of watch that constantly.
Yet there`s a hunger in me still. I`m like only beginning. I feel like I still have so much to learn.
You always have this fear in a movie of just being somebody`s woman.
You can never get to a place of comfort in this business. As soon as you hit that little cushy spot, somebody`s gonna kick you out. So I have a constant need to do it better.
