Amy Adams Quotes

1. (on what she thinks she is best known for) It depends on who you ask. A lot of people say "Catch Me If You Can", but then there are diehard "Buffy" fans, where nothing exists except my guest spot on "Buffy".

2. Being pregnant finally helped me understand what my true relationship was with my body - meaning that it wasn't put on this earth to look good in a swimsuit.

3. (about meeting her very young "Enchanted" fans who think she's really a princess) I'll introduce myself as Amy, and I'll be very kind to them, of course. I would have loved to meet Julie Andrews when I was a kid, and I'm sure she would have been lovely, and that's my intention now, as well.

4. "Man of Steel" was an opportunity to be in a genre film without having to train...I always want to defeat supervillains - it's just the chicken-and-broccoli diet that I'm not into.




5. I was the dork in high school who sang musical numbers up and down the hallways.

6. (on her character Sydney in "American Hustle") (She) is the most miserable human being I've ever played. She is not - happy. I'm used to playing people that, even if they're survivors, there's some sort of light in them. I don't know that she has that, necessarily...I think I like playing happy people.

7. I didn't necessarily fit in in high school. I felt very awkward. I still feel completely awkward and weird in my body sometimes. I'm hoping that's going to go away, but I've just embraced it as reality.


8. I think a lot of times we don't pay enough attention to people with a positive attitude because we assume they are naive or stupid or unschooled.

9. (on her role in "Her" with Joaquin Phoenix) It's a friendship love. Joaquin and I were able to create a male-female friendship on camera, and you don't get to explore that very often without undertones and overtones. We're friends, and you really believe that. Or, I believe that. I can't speak for anyone else.

10. I grew up as a Mormon, and that had more of an impact on my values than my beliefs. I'm afraid I will always feel the weight of a lie. I'm very hard on myself anyway. Religious guilt carries over too. You can't really misbehave without feeling badly about it. At least, I can't.

11. I used to have a lot of superstitions, and then I realized that it was kind of hogwash. Once I let go of them, I relaxed a lot.

12. (on being a role model for young girls) It's a honor. Little bit of pressure. I don't worry about it too much, though, because I think I'm pretty well-behaved.

13. It's just fun being at home. I want to have a vacation in my house. I've been out twice in New York, and it's always fun. But I always feel like I could have had the same amount of fun at home. Though, New York is the best place in the world to go out to eat.

14. (speaking to Robert Ito about "American Hustle") I want to say the f-word so much in this interview, because these characters are in such a f'd-up situation. (But) I think it's rude. Mormon upbringing. I'll say it in film. But that's a character. I just won't say it in print.

15. I have a hard time articulating the emotional experience of working on a film. Even when I have meetings on films or discussing them with directors, I find that's my biggest challenge. Different words mean different things to people.

16. It taught me that I want to go do more theater. I want that experience. Whether I succeed or fail, I want to know what that is.

17. I like Cinderella, I really do. She has a good work ethic. I appreciate a good, hard-working gal. And she likes shoes. The fairy tale is all about the shoe at the end, and I'm a big shoe girl.


18. I'm a tornado from the moment I walk in the door. Everything becomes disheveled and unhinged.

19. I knew I wanted to be a performer, but I didn't know I would specifically be in film. I actually never thought I would be in film. I always envisioned being on the stage.

20. (on Frances McDormand) I pride myself on being someone who never keeps production waiting. I come from small theaters where you had to be on time. But every time I showed up on set, she'd already be there. So I asked her how it is that she continuously beat me to the set. She looks at me and says: "I never leave." She's involved in the production, and she knows everybody's name. She comes with her A-game every day.

21. I watched "The Muppet Movie" obsessively. I can still pretty much say a lot of the lines and do a pretty mean Fozzie Bear.

22. I'm not that interesting. I don't do interesting things. I think part of it is that I'm a little bit older so I don't have a nightlife that involves anything other than going to get Mexican food! I don't know what it is. I would think that there are a lot of people in LA. who do not appreciate that attention, but who get it. So, in a way, it's just luck that they haven't found me that interesting yet, which is great.

23. There's a lot of movies I like. I like a lot of classic movies. I like "Breakfast at Tiffany's".

24. I thought maybe I should move to New York, maybe I should do something else. It wasn't that I was quitting or making a dramatic statement. It was more like maybe this just wasn't a good fit. Maybe I should go refocus. And then at Sundance (in 2005), everything shifted.

25. Not at this point. Right now I'm just doing what I enjoy and I've done some different films, I've done some different types of roles. I've done drama this year, we had a film at Sundance ("Sunshine Cleaning"), but I enjoy playing upbeat characters, I really do because you take your characters home with you whether you intend to or not.

26. I like not being noticed. It has been a struggle because I love performing, but if I'm in a group of people and someone has a bigger personality, I'm like: "Go ahead, and have fun!"

27. Moving to LA led me on a very different path than I had intended for myself. I think the idea of Hollywood didn't make any sense to me. It wasn't on my radar at all. Acting in films was like something that special people did. When I met people that were in films and realized that they were just people, it helped make it more of a reality. And having her saying I could work…It's weird, sometimes you just need a little kick in the butt.

28. I'm pretty Sicilian if I've been crossed. I don't seek revenge, but I never forget. And I make it hard to repair, which is not a great quality because if people held me to that standard, no one would be around me - ever.

29. I was just not fitting in with the cheerleaders. And I was doing ballet, so I was always gone from school. But I didn't fit in with the theater people either because I was in the real theater. I think people thought I was a snob. But I'd say people would think my personality is exactly the opposite of my face, if that makes any sense - even though at the same time I'm a really optimistic, upbeat person, and I'm for the most part happy. There's just a lot of yin and yang.

30. I love talking, and I love communicating with people and hearing new ideas, but I do get very self-conscious about how I form my thoughts, and I tend to be somebody who acts from a very instinctual place and tries to live from a very instinctual place. So, on occasion, when I have to intellectualize an emotional experience, it's very hard for me.


31. I'd love to be a diva. But I'd then have to send so many apology notes for my abhorrent behavior.

32. I research every part thoroughly. I talk it out with my actor friends, but then I throw it all away when I get to the set. You have to be spontaneous.




33. There's no halfway with me. I ain't got time to pretend I don't want a job.

34. How I work is I work from of very character-driven place. And I trust the writers.

35. I saw some musicals at dinner theaters where I grew up. But I didn't go to a big theater to see one until probably after I graduated from high school when I took myself to see "Tommy" when it was on tour. I absolutely loved it.

36. I don't see anything wrong with playing your cards. I mean, is there something wrong with wanting to do your best?

37. (in 2009 about filming two movies with Meryl Streep) What can I say? That she wanted to work with me again…gave me a huge faith in myself, a real sense of validity. I still geek out on her at the most inappropriate moments. I still gush, but that's part of my stage fright. She set an example. There was no hand-holding, no condescending. What else could give you more confidence and more reason to do your best?

38. I'm just grateful I didn't have to spend my early 20s in front of paparazzi cameras.



39. I was a waitress for short period of time. I had to buy a car. I was sick of taking the bus.

40. I still think I'm like the poor girl from Colorado who worked three jobs to buy a car. That's still my mentality, so I'll be walking down the street, and I forget what I do and who I am.

41. I come from musical theater, and a lot of musical theater is about accepting fantasy. I think it is more about just being open and accepting.


42. I tend to be really pragmatic, but ultimately tend to be attracted to people who pull me into more spontaneity. I've really learned that, through surrender, the best experiences of my life have happened.

43. I'm much more comfortable speaking through my characters' voices than my own.

44. I think that I've always been attracted to characters who are positive and come from a very innocent place. I think there's a lot of room for discovery in these characters, and that's something I always have fun playing.

45. I have worked with some of the meanest people in the world. You can't do anything to intimidate me.

46. I think the kick to doing comedy is just to get in a film with really funny people and let them do their jobs. I find that in most comedies, I'm not the funny one, which works out great.

47. I'm one of seven kids. That'll keep your ego in check.

48. I was a pretty scrappy, tough kid; I got in all sorts of fights at school. I defended myself - boys didn't mess with me. But as one of seven children, you have to fight for everything anyway.

49. As an actress people always tease me like: if there's anything you can do to make yourself unattractive you will do it.

50. (on the era in which "The Master" is set) We were a society in transition. Women were given responsibility in wartime, and then it was back to the kitchen and take care of your man. The perception of what what was available to women was so different.

51. I was one of seven, and we took a lot of road trips - long road trips. And this was before iPhones and iPads and DVD players in cars. I remember how novel it was when I got my own Walkman so I could listen to music.

52. (on letting her career be influenced by childhood favorites) I'm like the luckiest girl in the world. I've gotten to be a princess, I've gotten to work with the Muppets. A lot of my childhood dreams about who I wanted to be when I was a grown-up, I at least get to play them in movies. And Lois Lane is one of them. So I'm just excited. I hope I bring something that people enjoy.

53. I had an existential crisis at the Oscars, sitting next to Sean Penn and Meryl Streep, and being like: "What am I doing here? I don't belong here". I felt like it could all be taken away.

54. I'm not the kind of actress who asks a lot of questions of my directors unless it's something I really need to know.

55. I've always really loved action films, but I don't see myself as a superhero girl, so my Lois Lane is a mere mortal full of imperfections.



56. (on having the Muppets as co-stars) To see them when they're not animated was really upsetting.

57. I would say that a lot of the characters I've been attracted to are very vulnerable and they expose themselves emotionally. Not so much in "The Fighter," not so much in "The Master" - I think those are different.

58. Being an actress hasn't made me insecure. I was insecure long before I declared I was an actress.

59. I'm like the luckiest girl in the world. I've gotten to be a princess, I've gotten to work with the Muppets. A lot of my childhood dreams about who I wanted to be when I was a grown-up, I at least get to play them in movies.

60. I'm really good at gymnastics, and that's about it.

61. If I had a project that I had auditioned for and I was getting close to getting it, I didn't want to tell anybody because I thought then I wouldn't get it, but in reality that really had no bearing on whether or not I got a part.

62. When I was younger, my sister thought it was funny to pretend to punch me in the face because my mom was concerned about my teeth falling out. They were loose for a long time, and she knocked out my teeth.


63. I didn't get into acting to have a moment, I got into it because of people who've inspired me, like Judi Dench, Holly Hunter and Jodie Foster.

64. When you're picking up and moving, it does create...well, I can sleep anywhere, which is really useful, it turns out, on movie sets. But what it really does is teach you how to adapt and change and fit into a new group or school, and that really is a lot like turning up to a new movie project and finding your place.

65. In high school, I was so painfully self-aware that how I thought of myself was probably very different from what other people thought of me. I thought of myself as just painfully awkward and dorky. I had a lot of hair and was kind of weird. I sang a lot in the hallways.

66. (on singing at the Oscars) It's nerve-wracking! I'll be up there, singing the song in front of billions of people - oh, and Daniel Day-Lewis! And Cate Blanchett. I'll be going to Taco Bell when the ceremony is over. Mexican food cures me. 

67. It's just very homey in Ireland. It's very comforting and comfortable. There's lots of fireplaces with fires. It's just really cozy.

68. Not at this point. Right now I'm just doing what I enjoy and I've done some different films, I've done some different types of roles.

69. It's always challenging when you're shooting a film. Shooting things out of order and keeping continuity on all levels is always for me the most challenging thing.

70. (on working at "The Gap") Whitney Houston came in. Someone dared me to do "the Gap act" on her. You know, the Gap act. So I went up to her like I didn't know who she was, and I said: "Hi, I just wanted to let you know about our sale items and make sure to check out our new colors". She looked at me like I was crazy.

71. I do love shoes that make my legs longer. I have the upper body of someone who's 5ft 8in, so high heels help me even out the discrepancy.

72. My job as an actress is to make things work and come up with reasons of my own and not just fill in the blanks for anybody else, you know what I mean?





73. My dad is a singer. He used to sing in nightclubs, or pizza joints.

74. Moving out to L.A. for me was a leap of faith. I was very secure in my dinner theater world; I loved it, and I was just like: "I think there's something else out there for me and I just have to go for it."

75. I find that it's the simple things that remind you of family around the holidays.

76. Most of the time it's the parents who recognize me. They try to tell their kids: "Look, it's Giselle," and I say: "No, no, no, don't ruin this for them," because I'm usually standing there with my hair sideways and no make-up on. And the kid is saying: "That is not Giselle. No way. That is some worn-out girl who really needs a bath."

77. My natural response to a stressful situation is to shut down. I do weird things, like, I don't cry, I get really cold.




78. I graduated high school and I didn't have a skill set and I didn't want to go to college. I needed a job.

79. That's how I prepare for anything - I read whatever I can get my hands on, talk to people. I'm a bit of a nerd like that.





80. I love accents - I wish I could find an accent for every one of my characters. It makes it so much easier when I don't have to hear my own voice.

81. The Muppets have such a great tradition of bringing together all of genres of actors and all ages of actors.

82. I have to say I've been lucky in that way in that I've been able to go from different films and different genres with different challenges.


83. Once I moved to L.A., there was a dark moment of trying to keep up with the girls I thought were pretty. Until I realized that's the stupidest thing you can do because people are so pretty in L.A.!

84. There's such a work ethic involved in theatre that you can't learn in L.A.





85. Perfect isn't normal, nor is it interesting. I have no features without makeup. I am pale. I have blond lashes. You could just paint my face - it's like a blank canvas. It can be great for what I do.

86. I probably never would have been hired on Broadway had I not moved out to L.A. and pursued acting and film, which is sad, really.

87. School was hard for me. If there had been a school for the creative arts, I might have thrived, but...I needed that creative outlet so much. Also, I'm just bad with numbers.




88. What I respect in people more than anything is work ethic. And Justin Timberlake's got that. He works his tail off, and he knows his stuff.

89. Some of these actresses or public personas who are very public about their disciplined diets, more power to them. I just don't see the point. I'm just not going to be one of those people photographed in a bikini where people are like: "OMG, look at Amy!" I mean, it might be OMG, but not for the reasons I want.

90. I thought "Out of Africa" would be a beautiful ballet.

91. Thirty was a big deal for me. It was the age where I reevaluated everything - how I approached life and how I thought about myself. When I look at my 20s, or when I look at any period in my life, I think about how much time I've wasted trying to find the right man. It's like, if I could go back and do it again, I would have taken guitar lessons or something. I would have put my energy into something that paid off in the end, instead of trying to improve myself for men. Oh, the time and the energy, trying to impress somebody who was actually a big jerk, you know? But the truth is, once you have a great man in your life, it allows you - or at least for me - to look at yourself and grow as an individual. And gosh, if I had known I was going to find this, my 20s would have been completely different.

92. I always had a larger view. I'm interested in real life - my family, my friends. I have tried never to define myself by my success, whatever that is. My happiness is way beyond roles and awards.

93. When I died my hair red the first time, I felt as if it was what nature intended. I have been accused of being a bit of a spitfire, so in that way, I absolutely live up to the stereotype. The red hair suits my personality. I was a terrible blonde!

94. I was a hostess at Hooters, and that was sort of fun. I was 17, and then when I was 18, I waited (tables) for about a month. I wasn't cut out to be a waitress, and I certainly wasn't cut out to be a Hooters waitress. That was a short-lived ambition. Everyone would agree, if they could see me, Hooters isn't necessarily the best way to describe me.


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