Quotes

My agent said, "You aren't good enough for movies." I said, "You're fired."

When I was born, the doctor looked at my mother and said, "Congratulations, you have an actor!"

[upon accepting her 1985 Best Actress Oscar] This means so much more to me this time, I don't know why. I think the first time I hardly felt it because it was all too new. But I want to say "Thank you" to you. I haven't had an orthodox career. And I've wanted more than anything to have your respect. The first time I didn't feel it. But this time I feel it. And I can't deny the fact that you like me . . . right now . . . you like me. Thank you.

My country is still so repressed. Our idea of what is sexual is blonde hair, long legs, 22 years old. It has nothing to do with humour, intelligence, warmth, everything to do with teeth and cleavage.

Norma Rae (1979) is inspirational because it's the type of film where one person can be heard.

Forrest Gump (1994) is filled full of moments where your heart just cheers.

[on Burt Reynolds] What I look for mostly in a man is humor, honesty and a mustache. Burt has all three.

[1985 quote on Goldie Hawn] Goldie does something that none of the other actresses can do. She has a whimsy and a comedic ability that no one else has. We can all imitate her, but we can't get near it. I don't think that Goldie has yet branched out as much as she would like to dramatically, because she's such big box office doing what she does.

[on James Garner] If men only knew what's appealing to a woman is how a man makes her feel about herself. Jim is funny and dear and he laughs at my jokes. That's what makes Jim sexy; it doesn't change with years.

[on the death of Bea Arthur] She just was great and I wish I could have that kind of longevity of greatness.

[on playing Nora Walker] The first thing older mothers say when they meet me is just how much they enjoy the show. The women my age who watch it love it because the show is about them. It's about being the mother of grown-ups. They don't really get to tune into anything else on TV, or see films they can relate to, so it's great to see their lives portrayed on Brothers & Sisters (2006).

There are not a lot of places for an actor to explore what it's like to be a woman in her 60s. There aren't any films about it and there very few TV series about it.

[on trying her hand at golf] I would go to all these locations and think ... why don't I play golf? People walk around and enjoy God, God's gifts, the trees, so I think I've always thought I should have that in my life.

[In 2004, recalling her TV show The Flying Nun (1967) to Archive of American Television] I always certainly tried to do my best with it but deeply didn't want to do it. It went for 3 years. It was hugely important time in my life, because I learned a lot, because I didn't want to do it, and because I hated it every day. I hated the garbage. I felt it was just trivia that I had to say. With Gidget (1965), there was some kernel of something real in it. It was the father-daughter relationship that I always could hang on. But there was nothing in the nun that I could make sense out of. It made no sense to me. It was just drivel. And people when they hear me talk like that, they get very angry, "Oh, I grew up with that! I loved it." Well, God bless gesund that you loved it, but it was drivel and nonsense. There wasn't any piece of it that had any human behavior in it. And that bothered me....Madeleine Sherwood, who played Mother Superior, recognized my depression and how difficult this was for me and she recognized why, and she took me to the Actor's Studio. I didn't know that's where I needed to be, and it came a huge turning point in my life.

Being a mom is everything. It's mentorship, it's inspirational, its our hope for the future.

The industry has always, but certainly now to a huge degree, played to young men, and made a self-fulfilling prophecy about films that aren't directed toward young men by saying there's no audience for it. So they put no money in it, they don't promote it, and then when it doesn't make as much money as the films for young boys, they say, "You see?"

Having a long-term career is really about how to ride it and not be rigid. Keep asking yourself "What really blows my skirts up?" To me, it's finding the work.

What appealed to me about Sister Bertrille and The Flying Nun (1967)? I tell you the truth. Nothing. Nothing. I didn't want to do it.

I believe if you have the money, couples should have separate bedrooms. There's something unnatural about sleeping in the same bed, dressing in the same closet, sharing everything.

I think I'm much darker than people suspect.