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Maggie Fitzgerald is the character she played in "Million Dollar Baby":
I think beauty is all relative. It's subjective. To say that Maggie Fitzgerald wasn't pretty -- to some people, she might've been. People say the hair, makeup and pretty clothes make a pretty girl. I just don't see it that way.
On giving advice to beginning actors:
You need to study and work on your craft. If you're not prepared when that dream audition comes, you are not going to get that opportunity. To me, the definition of success is when opportunity meets preparation. So I really recommend that actors always work on their craft and their skills. Obviously you can't make a living doing that, but you can get a lot of joy from it and learn and be inspired by the people you're working with and by your teachers and by the material. As long as you're still being inspired by it, you're going to find joy. Then hopefully the role will come along. I just want every actor to know to keep chipping away at it.
On her divorce from husband, Chad Lowe:
That's life. Millions of men and women fall in love, get married and then get divorced. If what happened to me helps someone realize they're in a great relationship and to hold the person closer, then do it. If it makes someone realize they're in an unhealthy relationship that is making them both unhappy, then it's not the end of the world.
On playing Annie Sullivan:
I think when you're playing a real character you have an extra responsibility to do it really right, so because of that, I do extensive research. I really try and figure out the person inside and out. I read the lines, but I read in-between the lines and try and find the qualities in that person that makes them human and I hopefully try and bring that out in what I do.
On trying to achieve your goals:
As in life, your mind can be the hugest obstacle or tool, depending on how you choose to use it. And I find that a lot of people who are successful in life say, "I can do this, and I will do this." Their minds don't get in their way; whereas people who wake up and say, "Oh, I can't," their mind is in their way, and it's going to stop them from doing what they need to do to achieve their dream.
On what's important in a relationship:
I think that if you can grow together, you'll stay together. The most important qualities in making a relationship work are a blend of three ingredients: communication, respect and believing in another person. I've been with my husband for over twelve years. That's what made our relationship work. We have a mutual respect, the communication is key and believing in one another makes you feel like you can do anything!
On working as an actor:
I've realized that as an actor you have to just keep working really hard and studying your craft. I think I thought maybe things would be easier after the first Academy Award, that I would get better job opportunities, but then you really realize that there's not a whole lot of great quality out there, for women especially. It's not just something that women say; it's the truth. Because of that I had to be specific about not just doing something that I didn't want to do, but I also needed to pay my bills. I didn't do job after job after job. I would do a job and then still keep working on acting, whether it would be reading a play - something that's inspiring - with a bunch of actors, hearing it, studying, reading books about acting, and watching actors. I think it's an ever-evolving craft. And I think it's something that you always need to work at.
Upon accepting her second Oscar [for "Million Dollar Baby"]:
I don't know what I did in this life to deserve all this. I'm just a girl from a trailer park who had a dream.
Every role you do, you're pigeonholed by your last role. For a really creative business, sometimes it doesn't feel so creative.
I am a lay-it-on-the-table kind of girl. No nonsense. I'd rather have honest relationships, because life is too short to beat around the bush. Honesty shows that you really care about someone. I live by that.
I believe in a higher power. I wasn't baptized or raised with an organized religion, but it's definitely interesting. Part of my job as an actor that is so great, is that I get to read and learn about all different walks and types of life and different ways of thinking and it certainly makes me more open minded.
I can remember crying on the set of Beverly Hills 90210 after being released from the show a few years ago.
I cut coupons, love specials and believe in buying toilet paper and toothpaste in bulk. It's just who I am.
I find in this e-mail and texting age that getting a hand-written letter is even more special. I think writing letters is a lost art, but nowadays it's something that means even more, because it's so easy to communicate in so many different ways.
I grew up in a trailer park in Bellingham, Washington.
I had to fight my whole life to break out.
I haven't tucked a sock in my pants for three years.
I really believe in mind over matter. I am an optimist, to the point where there are people in my life who say I am naive.
I think everyone has a gift. You just have to be able to find it and follow your calling. People are afraid to do that. Some people are afraid of greatness, of success. And other people are afraid if they try and fail and that was their one big dream, then what do they have left?
I think that any time you start concerning yourself with what people think you're going to fail, because you're never going to please everybody. If you try to make everybody happy you might as well quit.
I'm not a very complicated person. I don't feel like I need a lot of things to make me happy. I feel like – part of that is my upbringing, not needing a lot of things around you. It's the truth. It really is.
I'm really lucky in that I have gotten to be a part of such wonderful films where the roles and the films speak to me in a really profound way.
My most annoying question is 'Hilary, are you ever going to play a pretty girl?'
One thing I've learned: You never know where life is taking you, but it's taking you.
That's the beauty of life. You're constantly trying to figure it out and go with it. And sometimes you're thrown into a tailspin and sometimes you're not. It's how you choose to deal with the tailspin and how you choose to deal when it goes well.
The truth is, after Boys Don't Cry, I realized how few and far between the great roles are. I am beyond thankful for finding Million Dollar Baby.
We have all had a time in our life when we needed somebody to believe in us, or we finally had someone who believed in us that changed our lives. If you don't have it at home or in your family life, hopefully you can find that in a teacher.
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