Quotes

I keep waiting to meet a man who has more balls than I do.

I act tall!" "But look how short I am...I can't even act to be tall. I'm five-two. I can't even create the illusion that I am tall!

"I don't believe in the so-called Latino explosion when it comes to movies. Jennifer Lopez doesn't have an accent. She grew up in New York speaking English not Spanish. Her success is very important because she represents a different culture, but it doesn't help me. I grew up in Mexico, not the US, and the fact is that there just aren't any parts for Latin actresses. I have to persuade people that my accent won't be a problem, but an asset. Everyone's afraid of doing something a bit risky. Everyone wants a $200 million hit and anything they think might get in the way of that kind of success is considered a liability".

What worries me the most is that most men are so weak. Because of that they act like they don't care and like machos - because they are too fragile inside. They're scared of confrontation and afraid of so many things. And because of this they build up their life so they have to deal with their feelings as little as possible. I find feminine men unbelievably sexy. But most men are completely incapable of getting in touch with their feminine side. What am I supposed to talk about with a man who doesn't know what it's like to be a woman?

At the beginning [my career] was hard. People were like, 'Who is this Mexican jumping bean?'

What works in a relationship of very public people is not making the relationship public - keeping it as personal as it can be. It's the only way it is real. I am suspicious of those who have to let the world know how much they love each other. It's a little sad when you have to brag about how much you love someone. That kind of declaration doesn't always reflect the moment of truth between two people who care deeply for each other. When that truth is there, you don't need others to know it. And when somebody truly loves you, you don't even need him or her to be affectionate. Affection is fantastic, but it doesn't necessarily mean there's love - and the public display of affection is often just a show. When you open a door for others to have an opinion on your relationship, it can be dangerous. Find what you need, not what everyone else wants for you. Women have been taught that in order to have a place in the world, an identity, they must marry and have children. If that's the life you truly want, great. But for many women, marriage is only about needing the world to know that someone desires them enough to say, "Here's a contract to prove that I love you and will commit to you for the rest of my life." For these women, no contract equals no validation - and, thus, no reason for existing.

"In my twenties I was offered lots of parts where there wasn't much to do but act sexy. I still get offered those roles - but now I take it as a compliment."

Woman's World (7-11-06)

About Madonna: "She always paid attention to the Latin community. I was grateful somebody like her appreciated our culture" (InStyle magazine, Sept 2006).

If I go on a diet and work out, I'm always in a bad mood. I'd rather be a little heavier but nice.

-quoted in Woman's Day 8-15-06 issue.

In my world, you have to be so beautiful, so skinny, so rich, so famous and I don't believe you really have to be any of those things. You simply have to be who you are. I do have thighs and a butt. I have cellulite. Don't be too impressed with me. Don't try to dress like me or wear your hair like mine. Find your own style. Don't spend your savings trying to be someone else. You're not more important, smarter, or prettier because you wear a designer dress. I get them free and I'm too lazy to go out and look for my own. I, a rich girl from Mexico, came here with designer clothes. And one day, when I was starving in an apartment in Los Angeles, I looked at my Chanel blouses and said, 'If only I could pay the rent with one of these.'

If a man lets all of my dogs sleep in the bed with us, then that is the most romantic thing. You must love my dogs in order to love me. A man who is nice to my animals and doesn't shoo them away - well, that's the height of romance.

It sounds trite to go after men who are nice but when you've been hurt a lot it becomes appealing.

[on being pregnant] You are like a swollen whale and never looked worse in your life. And somebody goes, 'You're glowing.' They don't have the courage to tell you how bad you look.

You've got to take who you are and love who you are and do the best you can with what you've got. It goes for the figure, and it goes for everything else.

I have no advice because his wife is Lebanese like me and I know his mother-in-law and his sister-in-law and I know those kids cannot be in better hands. [On George Clooney's becoming a father.]

I used to have a terrible judgment of smokers. I was like, 'Why do they do this? It tastes bad, it's going to kill them, and it doesn't even get them high. It's the s**ttiest vice you could possibly pick.' Then I got hooked during Frida. I've tried to quit before. But this time I'm done with it. I've changed. I know I can do it.

It's no fake hand doing brush strokes [in "Frida"]. Painting is the best part. The worst was learning how to smoke! I couldn't do it. I wouldn't aim right at my mouth, the cigarette, and I don't understand why. I'm pretty coordinated. I hated it -- I was dizzy.

The only way our country can change is through the power of women. For too long, it has been run by men, which is why we have suffered so much violence. Genetically, women are built a little differently. For one, we are trusted with creating new life. We are, by nature, programmed to defend life -- men aren't. Violence is melted by the feminine spirit; it's the only way the country can have a future.

More than 30 years ago, I started fighting for women's rights at the age of 25. Throughout my career I've always spoken about domestic violence. At the start of my career, no one would talk about it -- but people were fine about speaking about cancer.

I think that sometimes it's religion that keeps us separate though. If you take the religion out, if you take all the countries away, all the culture away, you will find that there is a purity to a human being and a unity to who we are.

I am a spiritual person, but I am not a religious spiritual person. I don't want anyone giving rules to my relationship with God or my spirituality. Sometimes I find spirituality in art or in science, because it's about discovering the source of who we are. Spirituality is about creation and the exploration of the unknown.

[on Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet] What's great about the story is that it's very simplistic. It's not complicated philosophy or even that sophisticated writing. However, it's managed to touch so many people because there's a lot of truth in what he says. His story doesn't teach so much as remind you of things that you know deep down.

It should be a reflex, if someone else is being hurt, to help. It shouldn't have to be because you are being a victim too. I work a lot for domestic violence, and people often ask me if I have experienced it. And I say, no, on the contrary -- my father is a great man, my husband is a great man. But we are all human beings, no?

I am a feminist because I love women and I am ready to fight for women. I am a feminist because I am proud to be a woman, and I am passionate about making the world a better place for women. I am a feminist because a lot of amazing women have made me the woman I am today. I am inspired by women every day, as friends and as colleagues.

[sharing privileges with her daughter] I never understood the point of being privileged if you don't get to have the privileges. Like, people who won't take their kids to an expensive restaurant, or won't travel with them, or make them pay for everything at a really young age. I think it's important that kids have responsibilities and understand the value of things, but I think it's great that my daughter gets to travel the world.

[her nude scene in Desperado] I'm not an exhibitionist. It was the first time, so it was very difficult.

[menopause] I'll tell you what they don't tell you. The boobs grow a lot. Many, many sizes. And my back has been really suffering from it, and not a lot of people talk about this.

[Hollywood idea of Latin women] When I first started, I found that I had to play the part of something they could swallow in Hollywood, which was the sexy Latin girl. I was not dressing like that in Mexico.

It makes me feel proud that people are inspired because you know, I am Mexican-Lebanese, but my ancestors on my mother's side are Spanish.