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Claiming a ghost attacked her when she was 17:
I had no idea what it was. I felt this pressure and I couldn't get up, I couldn't scream, I couldn't talk, I couldn't do anything. There was definitely something in my parents' old house - I don't know what it was. I can't really explain it. But they got it blessed and they burned sage and stuff since then.
Her guilty pleasure:
I love shopping at Target. I’ve spent many hours there in bliss. You can buy everything- all the cooking appliances you could ever want, the cute clothes…and the list goes on. At the Target in Albuquerque, New Mexico [where she filmed the upcoming horror flick The Eye], you can buy groceries there too. So you can get ice cream sandwiches and nail polish at the same store. That’s the American dream!
How she has grown over the years:
I’m now at a place where I don’t think I have to prove things to people all the time, and I don’t have to be such a ballbuster. I was in such a “work mode” for so much of my life that I just didn’t enjoy the moments. So I’m trying to live in the moment and not always be so careful with everything and not think about the results of every single decision I make. It hurts your brain! It hurts your soul too.
On her awkward stage when she was growing up:
I had braces... and I was pigeon-toed. I really had my moments with the ugly gene.
On her body image:
My mom is white, so I grew up thinking that women should be fair and blonde. Things I was made fun of for-thick lips and a curvy body- got better as I got older.
On learning Spanish:
I have a great accent because I grew up hearing it in the neighbourhood. But I have no idea what I'm saying.
Recalling the days she worked on “Beverly Hills 90210”:
You wouldn't be allowed to talk to them [the actors] unless they spoke to you first. It was bizarre. I don't really know why. Maybe because the leading characters were so popular they didn't want other actors looking at them. But I guess that's what happens when you become a big star.
Revealing she visited strip clubs to prepare for her role in “Sin City“:
I was worried about lots of things, including my top falling down, my chaps splitting or even hitting myself in the face with the rope I had to use. I saw the pictures in the comic book and thought, 'How could I get such great breasts?' But then I went to lots of strip clubs and watched and learned.
What she learned about serious relationships:
I’ve learned that if you’re not going to change as a person, you’re going to be unfulfilled later in life. You’re going to different at 18 than you are at 25. So if you make a decision to be in a relationship, it has to be conductive with you developing as a person instead of staying sort of paralyzed. You have to allow yourself to grow. The most beautiful thing to me is when you find someone you can truly grow with.
Being raised by young parents:
We all grew up together. My parents were so young. My dad hates it when I talk about our past, about not having things, living with grandma, wearing thrift-store clothes, cutting coupons.
On growing up in L.A.:
I never really belonged anywhere. I wasn't white. I was shunned by the Latin community for not being Latin enough. My grandfather was the only one in our family to go to college. He made a choice not to speak Spanish in the house. He didn't want his kids to be different.
On learning Spanish:
I have a great accent because I grew up hearing it in the neighborhood. But I have no idea what I'm saying.
On racial stereotyping:
My father is Mexican and very dark; my mother is very fair. I used to always get [script] breakdowns for things like Maria, the janitor's daughter who hangs around with white kids. I was born in the United States. I never thought about it until the industry made me think about being a Latin girl. It seemed like such a bizarre thing.
Interviewer: Who would you most like to be stuck in a lift with?
Michael Caine. He’s one of my favourite actors. I met him once, and he’s so witty and intelligent. I think we’d have a fun time.
The most important thing I have learned in life was that being a teenager wasn't forever. I had a hard time being a teenager.
"I don't hang out with the Hollywood cool people. I'm not out trying to make friends with people because they're famous."
"I have my own spiritual thing, but am not part of an organized religion. I think religion is very special and individual to each person."
From a very early age, I remember thinking that adults were always acting like assholes. I couldn't understand why I had to respect them. My pre-school teacher forced me to write right-handed when I was left-handed. I didn't get why I had to change. Nobody could give me a reason. I have had a big problem with authority ever since.
I actually started wanting to do movies when I was little because it felt like all the cool heroes I looked up to were always men. The men saved the day and the women were just the damsels in distress. I wanted to be the superhero. I didn’t want the superhero to come save me!
I can now hold my breath under water longer than [Into the Blue co-stars] Paul Walker, Scott Caan, and Josh Brolin!
I could never have a one night stand… I’m the kind of girl who looks over in the morning and is like, Do you really have to be here?
I couldn't do commercials. I was like why should I smile all the time?
I don't hang out with the Hollywood cool people. I'm not out trying to make friends with people because they're famous.
I don't need to be in the press or seen. Just because I'm not in magazines or because I'm not in a movie doesn't mean I'm going away. It just means I have some sense of integrity.
I have my own fashion style and do not try to fit in. I don't have my breasts under my chin, I'm not showing butt cheeks, nor much legs. I don't go for the trendiest look.
I have my own spirtual thing, but I am not part of an organised religion.I think religion is very special and individual to each person.
I have seen myself in video games, like in Dark Angel or the first Fantastic Four game. It's totally weird. It's like having an action figure.
I just don't have a great feeling about what we're doing in Iraq. I don't know why we're there. Didn't we just give the power back over there? Why are we still there?
I just didn't like the damsel-in-distress thing. I could relate to young girls wanting to see her take care of herself. And because I'm so good at action, I talked the writer and producer and director into throwing together a little fight sequence. It ended up taking three more weeks to shoot it. But at least I'm not tied up and asleep until my knight in shining armor comes and saves me. So I thought it was cool.
I like Spongebob Squarepants, he's goofy like me.
I love listening to Coldplay. But sometimes I listen to it too much and it depresses me. I call it a "reflective" mood.
I never dress for men - I dress for women.
I think the physicality of the Wii gets people off the couch. Sometimes you can just sit there playing a video game for hours and never move and you're brain is just zapped from playing the game. With the Wii, you're up on your feet and moving around. The physical aspect of it is great, especially for kids. They actually call it the Wii Diet, since active players can burn calories!
I thought it was my job to give all the boys their first kiss.
I try not to make the headlines. I'm self-conscious about this. I try to not make my presence known. I have my own fashion style and do not try to fit in. I don't have my breasts under my chin, I'm not showing butt cheeks, nor much legs. I don't go for the trendiest look.
I used to come to Beverly Hills for auditions as a kid and think, "Why don't I live here? Why don't I drive that car?"
I was always annoyed that my name was Jessica. There were, like, 800 Jessicas at every school I went to! The great thing about having a different name is that it's part of your identity.
I wasn't given a whole lot in my life. I was on the bottom of the class system. But I got wisdom. I never just did what people told me. I questioned everything. When I look back, it is really no surprise that I started working at 12.
I'm good at being sarcastic with guys. They don't want the quiet, prissy little things.
I'm really girly when it comes to kids. I've been surrounded by kids my whole life because I'm the oldest of 15 cousins — I've been changing diapers since I was six. I want to have a couple, for sure.
I'm really good at being sarcastic with guys. That's the best way to hang out with them, because that's what guys like. They don't want the quiet, prissy little things.
I'm so not cool. I used to feel like a reject, like I didn't belong in Hollywood because I wasn't a cool kid and I didn't go out to the hottest clubs. But now I embrace the fact that I'm not cool.
It's not always so great to be objectified but I don't feel I have much of a choice right now. I'm young in my career. I know I have to strike when the iron is hot. I look forward to the day when I can do a small movie and act and it's not about me wearing a bathing suit or chaps.
It's porn [Good Luck Chuck (2007)]. There were all these actresses who got conned into being completely naked. Some were strippers, probably. But every day when I was done, I ran away. I was like, "Bye". As long as they didn't disrespect me, I could give a rat's butt.
It's probably the most influential thing that I've ever had. Thank god for Dark Angel. Getting a blessing by James Cameron to star in his first television show. Really the first thing he did after Titanic was hire me.
I've got cousins galore. Mexicans just spread all their seeds. And the women just pop them out.
Living in L.A., everyone likes to mold you and change you. I don't care about fame, I don't care about being a celebrity. I know that's part of the job, but I don't feed into anyone's idea of who I should be.
Men are much bigger divas than women. When I used to do the action scenes in "Dark Angel" (2000) I would have to play it rough. If you hit an actress accidentally, she would usually take it on the chin and say, "Don't do that again." But with the guys, they would put ice on it, take a 20-minute break and ask for X-rays. It was unbelievable. I would tell them, "Come on, man, get over it." That's actors for you.
Most nights I end up wearing a wife beater T-shirt and boxers.
My first kiss was when I was 7, and it was scandalous because he was 10! I only did it so he would pick me on our neighborhood baseball team. And at the time, I thought it was great, but then it sucked because he didn't even pick me!
My grandfather was the only Mexican at his college, the only Hispanic person at work and the only one at the all-white country club. He tried to forget his Mexican roots, because he never wanted his kids to be made to feel different in America. He and my grandmother didn't speak Spanish to their children. Now, as a third-generation American, I feel as if I have finally cut loose.
My theory is that if you look confident, you can pull off anything - even if you have no clue what you're doing.
My whole life, when I was growing up, not one race has ever accepted me. So I never felt connected or attached to any race specifically. I did grow up in a Mexican-American culture, but my mom [who's of French and Danish descent] was there the whole time. I mean, I had a very American upbringing, I feel American, and I don't speak Spanish. So, to say that I'm a Latin actress, OK, but it's not fitting; it would be insincere. If you're going to look genetically, I'm actually less Latin than Cameron Diaz, whose father is from Cuba. But she's not getting called a Latin actress because she's got blond hair and blue eyes.
One of the reasons why I chose not to be a devout Christian is because a lot of people gave me a lot of grief for just being a woman and made me feel ashamed for having a body because it tempted men. I didn't understand what that meant because I was like, "God created this . . ." That was a hard time in my life.
The most important thing I have learned in life was that being a teenager wasn't forever. I had a hard time being a teenager.
The movies that I do are usually physically demanding in one way or another. It's a good way to keep your health on track. Especially when you've been on-set for 14 hours, it's nice to relieve that stress in another way than having to rely on a big meal and wine.
There is always an unspoken problem about casting Latina actresses. I have heard Jennifer Lopez talk about how it was for her, always being up for the role of the Latina chick.
There's no such thing as a perfect guy. I think it would be strange if somebody was absolutely everything you always wanted, because then there'd be no challenge. Also, you'd feel inferior.
To me, box office is the most important thing. If the movie makes money, then I'm fine.
What happens when the looks fade?. If I don't establish myself as someone who can act a part rather than look the part, I will soon be finished.
When I used to do the action scenes, I would have to play it rough. If you hit an actress accidentally, she would usually take it on the chin and say, `Don't do that again.' But with the guys, they would put ice on it, take a 20-minute break and ask for x-rays. It was unbelievable.
When I went blonde for Sin City (2005) three years ago, I swear I've never had more male attention. I'd go to a bar and all these Arab Princes and much older men would want to buy me a drink - I'm talking guys in their 80s!
You want me to be quiet? Then I'm going to be louder. Frankly, you have to have that kind of entitlement being a woman in this business.
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