(on marital plans) "I've always been very skeptical about marriage, because I only want to do it once; I want to do it the right way."

"I've learned that success comes in a very prickly package. Whether you choose to accept it or not is up to you. It's what you choose to do with it, the people you choose to surround yourself with. Always choose people that are better than you. Always choose people that challenge you and are smarter than you. Always be the student. Once you find yourself to be the teacher, you've lost it."

"I remember sitting down in Joel Silver's office and Joel going, "Do you want to do this film?". I remember going, "I would like to do it, but I would love to talk about the character, and it was almost like I had said the biggest joke".

The only reason I haven't married yet, is because I take it too seriously.

"Fame means when your computer modem is broken, the repair guy comes out to your house a little faster."

"I have no desire to maintain a lifestyle. I am a horrible celebrity. If I am out in public I dress like a pig."

"The Academy Awards shouldn't even nominate Meryl Streep anymore. She should just be given an award every year. There should just be the Meryl Streep category".

"Everyone told me to pass on _Speed (1994)_ because it was a 'bus movie.'"

"I'd rather take risks than make something that's cookie cutter."

"The first Miss Congeniality (2000) gave me the chance to do broad comedy that had nothing to do with being the romantic interest. The girl-next-door thing went away with that film and I tend to do characters that I want to be more like. In the beginning, though, I was sort of the 'action girl'. And then with While You Were Sleeping (1995), I was the romantic-comedy girl. But when I took time off, I thought, 'There's something I'm missing here.' I literally had to start from scratch."

"I don't like to talk about personal things. ... And by keeping it private, you have a better shot at a healthy relationship. I learned at a young age that there are certain things you just don't talk about."

"I don't think there's ever what could be called a 'chilled state' in my head."

"My goal now is to remember every place I've been, only do things I love and not say yes when I don't mean it." quoted in WOMAN'S WORLD (7-5-05)

"If I'm blessed with that, I hope I am the best version of me that I can possibly be." - on motherhood to People Magazine.

"Movie sex scenes are never romantic, and you're never swept off your feet. It's always very technical....I'm counting the beats: Okay, we're supposed to kiss for two beats, then I say my line, then they want another kiss for four beats. I'm going, One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three and break. It's like choreography. Sometimes you have actors who feel it's their job to get as far down into your throat as possible. You're like, Excuse me, I like you, but not that much."

"Why do you need one? I don't understand why there needs to be a love interest to make women go see a film. I think society sort of makes us feel that way - that if you don't have a guy, you're worthless."