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About Britney Spears:
After watching her performance on the 2007 VMA's, I wanted to just go and... I don't know, mother her.
About daughter Violet:
It's very important to us that she remains a kid. If she wants to do theater someday, okay, but as for doing it for a living, that's not a kid's job.
About gaining 30 pounds while pregnant with daughter Violet:
You're not supposed to in Hollywood. You're supposed to kind of just eat a salad, but I definitely didn't do that.
About losing her pregnancy weight:
It took me a long, long time. I just wasn't that motivated. I wanted to play with my baby. Then I got on the treadmill, stopped stuffing my face, and lost the weight. I cut out croissants, bagels and muffins--all the good stuff--and I went back to having a salad once a day, and protein.
About the arrival of their first child:
Ben and I realize how incredibly blessed we are. It's a dream come true.
Admitting her remaining pregnancy weight is sparking baby bump rumors:
Everyone calm down. Nobody's pregnant. You still have that little bit of extra skin... But still, it's enough for people to think that you're knocked up.
During her interview with Jay Leno:
You can just start to feel really pregnant, like you are the hugest person on the face of the planet. And then I felt just bigger and bigger like she ... oops!
In 2008 about her daughter:
Ben and I try very hard not to talk about Violet to the press. We don't want to give the paparazzi any power. They really invade your kid's space. I tell them, "Please don't put your cameras in her face," and they don't care. My kid doesn't belong in magazines. She's two! People recognize her in a different state when she's with someone who's not me. They say, "Oh, that's Violet Affleck." That's not okay with me.
Joking about her daughter's relationship with her stunt body double:
I have a problem with my child actually right now. She's obsessed these days with my stunt double, Shauna Duggins. She's a really good friend of mine. She's like my partner in crime. She's amazing; she's like me except cooler, hotter and with a better body. My daughter recognizes this and makes me call her 'Shauna Girl' and she draws Green Shauna, Pink Shauna, Blue Shauna.
On "13 Going on 30":
It's like Big in many ways, but it makes me nervous to say that because Tom Hanks was so brilliant and it's such an incredible, beautiful movie that to compare myself to him is nerve-racking.
On "Alias" co-star Carl Lumbly:
We looked him up on IMDb, and we just cracked up - his resumé goes on and on. He was even on "Cagney & Lacey" (1982).
On "Alias":
In the first season when I was nominated for the first time, and I was over the moon, it didn't occur to me that it could happen. This makes me feel like its not about the buzz, its not about the new kid in town. This makes me feel like we have done 57 solid episodes and i've been there for every single day of every single one and it MATTERS.
On all her lingerie scenes in "Alias":
I was in about half the lingerie that they wanted me to be in! Every now and then I'd get a script that would be like, 'Sydney's in a bikini,' and I'd be like, 'I can't! You have to give me notice. I have to have months to get ready. Don't make me do it.'
On being part of a celebrity couple:
We just don't talk about our relationship! It's tough when you're both working hard and you read stories. It's just a no-win situation to say anything at all.
On Ben Affleck as a dad:
He does a good job. I mean, okay, maybe I wrote out what he was supposed to make for her (to eat) today while I was gone. But that's just me being paranoid. He's great – he can do it.
On getting her ears pierced for the 2006 Oscars:
A couple of months before the ceremony, I went to pick out the jewelry I'd be wearing on the night. I picked out the diamond cuff and the hair clip, and then they showed me the most gorgeous pair of earrings I'd ever seen. It wasn't until I came to try them on that I realized they'd forgotten I didn't have pierced ears. They could see how much I loved them, and how disappointed I was that I couldn't wear them, so they said that, if I really wanted to, they could pierce my ears for me there and then. That would give them enough time to heal before the ceremony, and I could then wear the earrings. And I really did want to wear those earrings, so I said 'OK', and they pierced my ears for me before I left the boutique. It felt a bit odd to have them done, although I did have them pierced for a couple of weeks a few years back for a movie I was in, but it was worth it because I knew it meant I'd be wearing those fabulous earrings to the ceremony.
On her best friend growing up:
I grew up next door to this guy named Danny Moore. He is now married with a couple of kids. He still lives in Charleston and I still see him every time I go home. And Dan and I had this ritual, we called it porch talk where every night when we got home from our various things, and then through high school it would be from dates or whatever it was, he would throw rocks or pennies at my window if my light was on, or I would at his window. I would come downstairs or he would and we would sit on the front porch of either house and talk about, go through everything. And we were absolute sweetest best of friends and it was always innocent, but I think we probably both did have crushes on each other but we never- - he set me up with all of his friends instead and I talked him through his various relationships.
On her body shape after giving birth:
I'm in the worst shape ever. My trainer just shakes her head and says, 'This is a disaster.' I am as physically unfit as I've probably been in my whole life. It's such a horror in front of the mirror with no clothes on.
On her character Sydney losing two years of her life in "Alias";
We were all shocked. I'm almost embarrassed to tell you this but when we were shooting Sydney waking up in Hong Kong, I could not stop crying and it wasn't supposed to be an emotional scene, JJ asked me why and I said, "Because I can't stand it for her. It isn't fair that she lost two years and the love of her life."
On her daughter Violet:
She looks like both of us. She's somewhere in-between the two of us. Ben and I like more things in ourselves that we now see reflected in Violet. To see my dimples in her makes me like my dimples, because I share them with her.
On her days since giving birth to her daughter Violet:
Most of the time by far, I'm at home with my daughter. My husband is superinvolved and very present, so I don't have that feeling of wandering around the house bumping into things. I have just enough stuff that gets me out where I feel like, "Oh look, I exist in the world."
On her expierence with comic book fans:
I’m lucky that the color of my costume is the toughest I’ve ever got. People don’t come up and go “You sucked as Elektra! You should have been Greek! I hate you!” They might say that behind my back, but my experiences have been really, really positive, which has only made me enjoy the world more.
On her family:
We hardly saw movies. It was a much bigger deal for us if Annie came through. We saw Flowers for Algernon when I was probably six, and Mom said that at the end, I stood up on my chair and was screaming and clapping.
On her favorite musical roles:
Gosh, I love everything. I love being in the chorus. I was in the chorus of Little Abner in Summerstock once and it was so fun, the dancing and finding the harmony, being part of a big group. I loved--I played Gypsy when I was younger and I loved, loved, lu-hu-hoved Gypsy. I think that’s such a beautiful musical. I loved--I was Dream Laurey once in Oklahoma and that is such a beautiful ballet. I love Cabaret. I did that in college and I love them all.
On her first husband Scott Foley:
I wanted to see him as a white knight and was crushed whenever anything normal happened. I wanted to be the princess... Now, I'm much more willing to see myself as human and flawed, and accept someone.
On her relationship with Scott Foley:
When I was going through my separation, I remember feeling really awful because so many trashy stories were being printed which were pretty cruel and for the most part totally fabricated. But I had a lot of people around me who were telling me that you have to just ride it out and eventually the stories will just die down. But it's OK. I've developed a thick skin.I just try to lead my life and not worry about the speculation about my love life.
On her work in Daredevil:
It's the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, physically. It was just night after night and day after day of fighting!
On hiding the baby for "Alias":
We talked about trying to hide it and I just said that's ridiculous. First of all, I think it's a really honest, mature, real storyline for her and for me to get to play with her. Also, it would just be ridiculous right now, if not in a couple of months.
On High School:
It wasn't like I was one of the hugest nerds. I was just a quiet, little, happy nerd, going along with my other nerd friends.
On his casting her in "Alias":
I've often said to J.J. Abrams, the creator of the show, 'I don't know why you cast me in this role. I don't know why you thought I could do it. I know I was good in Dude, Where's My Car?, but seriously... I can't thank you enough!
On kissing a girl for Elektra:
You know, I’d have to say it’s the first time I’ve ever kissed a girl. I didn’t object it, I didn’t really think about it much either way. When the time came it was just a kiss. It was totally, completely fine. We’d just talk about our sisters or talk about, you know, “Oh wait you’ve got a hair stuck here” and I think it’s the only person on screen I’ve kissed where I’m making sure her lipstick is straight and then we’d actually kiss, they’d say “cut” and we would laugh and get on with it. It was nothing to speak of.
On struggling at first with her career:
When I first got to New York I lived on a futon on this woman’s kitchen floor for nine months. I paid her $400 a month while I was understudying a play on Broadway that I got $150 a week for. I got the flu and bronchitis because I didn’t have a warm coat in the middle of winter.
On stumbling on her dress at The 2006 Academy Awards:
I kind of stepped on the lining of my dress, and I just felt my feet absolutely going out from under me.
On the old saying that having a newborn is like detonating a bomb in a marriage:
I was ready for that, I kept preparing, but it hasn't been the case at all. Maybe it's because we were newlyweds. I think it's just he is also a very understanding individual. A compassionate, generous guy. He's great with her and she loves him, and it makes it a lot easier on me.
On the role of Elektra:
She is driven by vengeance and she's a very powerful woman. The great thing about this movie is that it starts with her falling in love and so what was fun about playing her was that I got to play both the tenderness and the blissfulness of falling in love, and also her vengeful, darker side. [This part was a] fun addition to my career.
On training for "Elektra":
Having done so many fight scenes in Alias and then for Daredevil, the training wasn't as tough as it was when I first started learning to do fight sequences. Now my body is a lot better adapted to all the moves, even though I still wind up getting bruises all over me.
On transitioning to a lead role for "Elektra":
It's been a scary one, to be honest. I’ve really missed hiding behind a big, red devil.
On winning a Goldon Globe in 2001:
My husband was as flabbergasted as I was. I think he almost flew out of his skin. He was so surprised and excited. He is just the most supportive and proud friend. My family is just beyond out-of-control excited.
On working with Colin Farrell:
The great thing about Colin is that he doesn't pretend to be anything that he's not. He's having a great time. He celebrates life everyday. I love that about him.
Regarding the series finale of "Alias":
We came in with a bang and we're going out with one.
When asked about Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck:
I'm not going to go there. That's his life and his past. He has always been so respectful of her, and, in turn, I'm going to be respectful of him.
On being recognized:
I never get recognized! I'll be with my husband [actor Scott Foley from "Felicity" (1998)] and people will think I'm his manager, and they'll start giving me their business cards.
Quoted in Playboy, 4/02:
There's something so interesting about the combination of vulnerability and being completely in control at the same time. Women should run everything - it's about time.
And now, I still really don't care that much but now I have music playing all the time at home, which is a first for me. Whatever. Everything from Ani DiFranco to Dave Matthews to Jack Johnson and Norah Jones.
And you can't hide in a comedy scene either. You have to give in to the scene and commit.
Back in school I loved guys and I was always chasing them but they never seemed to be interested in me! It took a while until that process reversed itself. Sometimes I think it was better the other way around!
Beauty comes from a life well lived. If you've lived well, your smile lines are in the right places, and your frown lines aren't too bad, what more do you need?
Fashion taste is so much a thing of the moment that it's almost impossible to always be on the cutting edge anyway, so I try to keep things simple and classic. I got some pretty good press for my Oscar dress, so I can't complain.
Having a baby fills your life in such a way that no matter what you're doing, there's something bigger. I've just been in heaven being with her the past year.
I call my mom now and say, "You know all the dinners you made that I said "no" to and then went off and ate peanut butter? I'm sorry. I get it now. I slaved over roasting this, and Violet goes, "No, no, no!"
I didn't grow up in a politically active family like [Ben Affleck] did, and I'm jealous of him that way. I've always felt slightly behind. But it's like baseball: The more you know about it, the more you like it. I'm finally learning the difference between Sunni and Shiite, you know what I mean? And thank goodness, I find that [Ben and I] are pretty much on the same page.
I do think about aging. I have those moments of panic and vanity, but life keeps getting better, so you can't worry about it too much.
I don't have this fantasy about marriage anymore. Everyone says it takes hard work. Well, it kind of does - and I'm much more pragmatic about romance than I used to be.
I don't have this princess fantasy about marriage anymore.
I don't know anyone who was never a geek, really, when they look at their own lives. I think that from the outside looking in, you think that you weren't necessarily a tragic geek, but yes, you did lean in that direction.
I knew we were going to marry someday, but I was absolutely surprised when he actually proposed. And surprised he had bought a ring. I ran around the yard screaming.
I know there's this very fine line separating success from obscurity. I don't take anything for granted.
I lost weight breastfeeding! That and a moderate exercise and eating plan with the help of my personal trainer. I wasn't about to jump on the celebrity mom bandwagon of getting super-skinny, super-quickly. I am more concerned about keeping healthy and spending time with Violet than anything else.
I love being physical and acting at the same time.
I mean, maybe I’m just lucky that I came from a great place, but I’m so glad and so relieved to see people that I’ve known forever and to just sit down and talk about our dogs and gardening and normal real life and our parents and siblings. I think I would feel that way if I worked on an oil ship somewhere and only got home every nine months. I think that it’s not as crazily different, my job, from anyone else’s, as people let themselves believe. I think people get wrapped up in their own idea of what it is, but it’s really not that.
I only feel [pressure] when I go to film premieres and there's so much fuss about wearing the perfect dress. That can be intimidating. I don't have the greatest fashion sense myself, but I think I know what kind of dresses look good on me or not.
I think it's fair to say that Scott gets more jealous than I do. However, on the night before our wedding, I turned on the TV and there was the Felicity episode in which Tyra Banks straddles Scott and thrusts her ta-tas in his face. He was like, 'Tyra Banks is hot.' I thought, 'Oh, how nice.' But what can you do? She is hot. I'd kiss her.
I think that baseball games are like soap operas. If you watch five in a row, you know enough to get hooked.
I think that it's not as crazily different, my job, from anyone else's, as people let themselves believe. I think people get wrapped up in their own idea of what it is, but it's really not that.
I think the whole point of being an actress is to do different things, and so far I’ve been lucky that I haven’t been stuck somewhere.
I want a graduate degree, I want to be a business woman, an investment banker, a writer, a pianist. I really wish I could cook. I've never had specific goals in life. I don't say, 'I'd like my next step to be this', and then write it down and go after it. Actually, I don't write anything down. I just think things to myself and they actually start to happen. So watch out.
I want to be funny. I want to be like a huge fat old man and stuff like that. Now is the time to do stuff that's fun.
I was a ballet dancer and that kind of bled into musical theater. I was constantly in rehearsal for one thing or another.
I was rocking [Violet], and she was fascinated by the light hitting the ceiling. I thought, "God, for the past five years, I haven't stopped to look at light on the ceiling for [one] second." To slow down and go at her pace has been such a gift.
I will definitely streak somewhere before I would get drunk.
I wish that I had read Electra when I was growing up because I think she’s a very empowering young woman.
I would be happy if there was a uniform for life and we didn't think about it. I do appreciate people who have style. I like to look at it. And I even like when I accidentally stumble onto something that is a combination of me and something fancy--that makes me happy. But otherwise, the whole thing terrifies me.
I would have never thought that I'd be taken seriously in this field! But I have an insatiable appetite for action.
I would just like to have as varied a career as I can, for as long as it wants me and I want it. But it's hard. It's not a generous career. You know, when things are good, you kind of have to take advantage, and no one really cares if you have a kid, and you wanna... but that's okay.
I would roll up pennies to take the subway to work in Times Square. I was broke, but I was happy.
If you were to hang out on the set of Alias, you would very quickly agree with the cast and crew that I'm 30 when the camera is rolling and 13 when they say 'cut.' I think all of us have our inner 13-year-old a lot closer to the surface than we're willing to admit even to ourselves.
I'm much more willing to see myself as human and flawed, and accept someone - the whole picture. My life is definitely changing for the better. I couldn't be happier or feel more comfortable with the direction it's going in.
I'm naturally happy. I have definitely had dips, but two of my mom's most oft-repeated momisms are Happiness is your responsibility and Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes in the morning, and both are true. There is always a new day.
I'm pretty chilled as a pregnant chick and I feel like I'll be pretty chilled about the whole thing. I mean, I feel kind of warrior-like about it. But I do have the moments in the middle of the night where I'm like, 'Wow, this has to come out!'
I'm still really close with everyone at home and their parents - and their brothers and sisters. I was so, so, so lucky to grow up as part of a community and I don't take that for granted. I try very hard to stay part of it.
I'm well-known for action but it was never even a hint of a consideration when I was starting to work as an actress. To be honest, comedy wasn't up there either. I was always kind of the vulnerable girl next door.
It's not a straight line, this job. You go along and you go backward and then to the side and then you leap forward, and it's like, holy sh*t! I definitely think if I never got another job, I'd go to grad school! Just because I want to remind myself that my job's not what makes me happy in life.
I've been pretty chill as a pregnant chick, so I feel like I'll be pretty chill through the whole thing.
I've known for a long time that your looks will only take you so far, and I think I'm in the process of showing what I can do as an actress. I wouldn't mind if someone says I'm a good actress who's also kind of nice to look at. There's a lot worse things people can say about you.
Jenna in 13 Going on 30 is probably closer to my actual personality than Sydney [on Alias] in a lot of ways.
Life is good in general. Even when things are a little sloppy, there are things you can look at and say, 'Wow! This is a really great aspect of my life' and maybe I didn't know about it before or didn’t appreciate it.
My big sister Melissa is such a stud, and my little sister Suzanna has always had a perfect body and big blue eyes. We were a force.
My sisters are the single biggest thing about me. They're the ones cushioning me on either side.
Now I see people around, like [Isabella's regulars] Steve Martin and Katie Couric, and they think they know me. But I'm like, 'That's because I seated you at table five every Wednesday.'
Our society says to focus on one thing to become the best at it. But the real point of a liberal arts education is to experience a variety of things.
People think that I just go from one workout session to another. No. My workouts are never more then an hour long. I definately let myself have a day off every now and then. I do a lot of running on camera which is fun - watching the camera guys kind of go "Can you go slower, Jen?" and I go "Yeah! I'm beating the camera guys!"
Sometimes I look at [skinny actresses] and think, Oh God, I should look like that. I'm jealous because the clothes hang on them so well. But I would have to torture myself to look like they do.
That’s eventually if I could do anything, it would be to be on Broadway or to do a big movie musical. I can’t think of anything I would love more.
The first thing I check out on a guy is his hands. I imagine them picking up a baby; it's a sensual thing. They should look capable and strong and have a bit of artist in them--like he's picked up a guitar or could draw a sketch.
The only thing I ever wanted to get out of this business was to find enough work to pay my rent and have a little money in the bank at the end of the month. I was never ambitious in the sense that I was desperate to become famous and walk up the red carpet.
The rule with marriage is the less you talk about it the better, as far as I can tell.
The thing is, everyone says that when you're in Hollywood, you're living in the fast lane. But that's what it feels like — everything speeds up. If [a relationship] is not going to work 10 years from now, it feels like it's accelerated to this frenzy and then, it's not working...boom! And you're like, "What just happened?"
There are times where everything is going right at the same time and you just have to love them for all they're worth. I feel like I'm in the middle of one of those, so I'm just appreciating it.”
There's nothing more emotional than seeing your partner--the man you love--with your baby at any time: the first time, the second, yesterday, today. There's nothing more beautiful.
To become a classical ballerina, you have to move to New York when you're 12 or 11 and that becomes your life. I just wanted to be good in my company in Charleston and I wanted it to always be part of my life.
Two of my mom's most oft-repeated mom-isms are: "Happiness is your own responsibility" and "Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes in the morning." Both are true.
Violet is the most beautiful thing. Just that she exists and I get to hang out with her. I think that I can read her mind because I'm with her all the time. Then she'll do something off the wall and surprising. There's no one who is more fun.
Well, you can't be trying to achieve success of any kind in this business without accepting that there's going to be a flip side to it.
What's great today with women from the new generation is that they're able to top men, while staying extremely feminine. That's a fantastic evolution.
You know how as a kid you picture yourself with a tall, handsome husband, and you imagine him cuddling your baby? Ben [Affleck] is like that, like, on crack.
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