Quotes

I don't really have any expectations. For me, it's all about falling in love with a project and being as present and open as you can while filming it. But once you get on the plane at the end of filming, it's out of your hands. - On her acting career.

I grew up very comfortable in this bizarre, circus-like existence, but, as comfortable as I was, I was also aware of the struggles that actors go through. A lot of people who come into the profession with these romantic expectations aren't being very realistic. And because I often saw the other side of that dream, I avoided acting like the plague at first.

My normal life is, I love to travel and I travel as often as I can. I don't stay in one place too long. But I'm an avid reader, I guess you could say, I'm a bit of a bookworm.

I tend to curse in French more often than I do in English.

[on the season four Angel (1999) episode, Players (2003)] In the third episode, I did most of my work with J. August Richards, and we had so much fun it was hard to believe. He's fantastic and I so adore him. We would sing between takes and do sit ups.

[on her character "Gwen Raiden" on Angel (1999)]: Oh my god! We can all agree she's unlike any other character. The electrical power is just part of it. I thought, "Wow! How fun would that be?" She also fascinated me because Gwen has this tough outer shell, and yet, on the inside, she's incredibly scared and insecure after growing up "as a freak", as she says. That duplicity of being very insecure on one hand and incredibly strong on the exterior is what attracted me.

... Because she had this super power, which was so inhuman and something we can't relate to, it was a challenge to incorporate that into her and yet make Gwen feel like a real person. I didn't want people to see her as this odd, alien-like woman without a sense of being human. She was very much a regular girl with this distinctly odd ability -- and curse -- in many ways.

[on Gwen's wardrobe during Gwen and Angel's second fight in the season four Angel (1999) episode, Ground State (2002)] It was an absolute nightmare. The red leather pants were one thing, but the latex top was like wearing a balloon. It is incredibly hot to wear plastic, but it suited Gwen. It almost became comical at moments. I'm wearing these tight, unique pieces, and to choreograph the fights was very funny.

To be perfectly honest with you, having a mother as an actress -- who I watched struggle tremendously during my childhood -- and to watch fluctuations of ups and downs is difficult. She did mainly television, so I think I associated that with a life of inconsistency. As I've come into my own, I realize it has nothing to do with the medium. It has broadened my horizons in my own mind and ultimately it is about the character for me. If I read something and I fall in love with the character, no matter what it is, I'm eager to do it. That is what happened with Gwen [on "Angel"].

[on what she looks for in a role, and if she worried about being typecast "as a sci-fi or fantasy actor" early on]: We all do a few things that you kind of look back on and think, no one will remember that; that will be fine. It's being young and finding your way with everything. The older I get, for me it's about fear. If I read something and it scares the hell out of me, that's what I want to do. If it's a challenge and a massive risk and I'm going out on a limb ... those are the ones I want. And they are few and far between. I don't work very much because I'm very specific about what I want to do.

[on what occupies her when away from work]: I'm such a hermit, I can't tell you. I love my garden (in Los Angeles). I spend a lot of time there. I travel. My heart really is in New York, in France. I go back as often as I can afford to. I read like a crazy person, I play the piano and I'm a photographer. I always say my photography keeps me sane. I spend a lot of time in the darkroom. It's a very solitary, quiet life when I'm not working.

[on what music she listens to]: Sidney Bechet. I'm an old-timey gal. I have my granddad's record collection, which I treasure, and my father's - The Rolling Stones to Sidney Bechet.

I was raised without much religion, to be honest... [my parents] were traveling around like mad and took me everywhere, so we didn't celebrate traditionally. When I was very young, about 7, we came to Los Angeles from France for a brief time and my parents enrolled me in school at Temple Emanuel and I learned Hebrew. I do remember it had an impact on me. I've always felt a connection to [Judaism].