American Quotes

My goal is to goad people into saying something that ruins their life.

To be at acting school, it was kind of the first time you felt the freedom to be as much of yourself as you wanted. People weren't going to judge you.

There's too many actors in LA. I mean, I'll go out there from time to time, but I always find it pretty soul-destroying. I don't drive, and the people kind of rub me the wrong way. It's just not home. You know? It's not New York. It's not... my town.

Not to toot our own horn, but when 'The Sopranos' was on, it was as good as any movie that was coming out in the theater. I think that goes for a lot of shows today.

My family is my life, and everything else comes second as far as what's important to me.

John Ventimiglia, who was on 'The Sopranos,' was in my first acting class and we have been friends since that time. Alec Baldwin was in my class back then, Sean Young and Andrew McCarthy.

In Britain you're more used to challenging drama. In America, TV is just boring, and numbing, and bloody terrible.

I've played some gangster roles, but that's obviously not me. When you're an Italian-American New York actor, it's just an easy way to get cast.

I've been working professionally as an actor since I was 20. That's going to be 25 years soon. So, that's a veteran. That's a big-time veteran. I've had some great successes, and I've had some not-successes.

I'd go for parts that didn't pay a dime, and there would be 300 to 400 actors there. It could be very discouraging. To make it in this business, you have to have a kind of dumb sense that you're really good. You have to believe that someone is going to recognize that.

I played guitar in a band from when I was about 20 for three years. Then I sang a little. Then I started getting really busy as an actor and forgot about it.

I do smoke in real life. A lot. We're all smoking right now in fact.

Detroit is a city that really stands out. It's been through a very difficult time. There's been a lot of pain here, and the city, physically, has suffered. You can see it in certain neighborhoods, and there's buildings downtown that have been abandoned.

'Detroit 1-8-7' - the numbers are police slang for murder - is filmed in that blue-collar Michigan city, providing a flavor of authenticity. Detroit offers a unique visual landscape that tells the story of the city and what it's been through.

But James Gandolfini and Edie Falco, they did such great work, especially in the last show.

Back 20 years ago, there was a division between movie actors and TV actors. That's kind of gone away. People who have had a lot of success in movies in the past now want to be on TV. There used to be much more of a quality division between TV and movies, and that's kind of not the case anymore.

My goal is to be a household name, and when I do that, I want to help other girls become models, and maybe even launch a fashion line with my mom, like Beyonce did with her mother. My mom has such a good eye, and it's always been a dream of hers.

Music is everything to me. I wake up and go to bed with it. I listen to all genres, depending on my mood.

Mostly I'm proud to be an African-American woman, but I'm glad I have a universal look as well.

Let me say this: I think men are a full-time job, and I'm young and I already have one job. I'm just focused on my career.

It takes time to be who you really want to be. It doesn't happen overnight.

I'm thinking of slowing down on modeling and branching out to other things. I want to pursue some new and old dreams and start making them happen.

I'm really into natural and organic products.

I'm really focused when I'm working out, so I don't really listen to music. I like to listen to music after, because it's like, 'Yeah! I finished! Let's party!'

I'm my own person, and I want people to know me for who I am.

I'm just really tiny. People hate me, because I just sit. I'm eating, I'm eating, I'm eating and then I just... sit. And I don't gain a thing.

I'm grateful to look the way I do. However, if I could change anything, I would like to be a bit bigger all over. Not much - just a bit.

I want to do television, film, music and designing. I want to do it all!

I have had the privilege of working with the best in the business, from photographers to designers to magazines. There's not much more to ask for but I'm still looking forward to one day working with photographers Mert and Marcus, Tim Walker and Nick Knight.

I drink a lot of protein shakes and do a lot of weight lifting.