Valerie Plame Quotes

I don't feel like my films are about gender; they are about identity - but a different slant on identity.

The media had built my perception of being a strong woman because of my personal life. I wanted to play the damsel in distress, but I wasn't given an opportunity to explore that kind of a character.

I believe that who we are, and consequently the work that we make, whether we're visual artists or writers or journalists or filmmakers, is a projection of where we were born, what's been withheld or lavished upon us, our color, our sex, our class. And everything we do in life to some degree is a reflection of that context.

When I look at female characters, I want to recognize myself in them: my trials, my tribulations as a mother, as a lover, as a daughter.

To be feminist doesn't mean you can't be submissive.

The image of Ireland is projected as a male image in the acting world, similar to the way that the word of Ireland is male dominated.

A friend of mine once wrote a silly article about all these metrosexuals like David Beckham wearing sarongs, and she described me as a 'heteropolitan.' I don't know what that means. I think it was a joke.

I don't relate to that angst-y kid who hates their parents because they were horrible. It's just not my life and it's not the life of a lot of my friends.

I am like many of the women I have played onscreen.

I love playing strong women, even if they're nuts.

A lot of the scripts I read and the characters I get are 'the girl' in romantic films, and I don't know how comfortable I am, or the world is, with me being that.

Most of the women I saw on TV didn't seem like people I actually knew. They felt like ideas of what women are.

Writing about identity can be like maneuvering through a minefield, even when considering contemporary figures who have discussed the subject themselves.

But the privileges that one has enjoyed and exploited can sometimes turn against you: nobody thinks of you as a director, you are always an actress.

I have played a lot of roles in my career where I'm the sexual interest. I'm always having to fight that.

There is no 'generic' Latina.

I have a real pet peeve for women who play damaged characters but don't look damaged.

If you're anything other than a white, cisgender, able-bodied dude, people are going to project narratives, imagery, and context onto you that you might not necessarily see for yourself.

I really do not know how to define a real feminist.

I find when I'm perceived as male in society, there is an enormous amount of pressure, but it comes with respect, so it's a balance.

I have played mother many times in south films. And I really have no problem with it.

When people think what is the most simple sort of human, it's a white man, and anything else that is added to that complicates it for people. It comes with all kinds of meanings and connotations. If they have a different skin color, that comes with a connotation. If they're a woman, 'Oh well, what do I feel about that?'

I don't doubt that straight white men have identity issues and identity complexes and struggle with defining themselves.

I don't have much to complain about in life, because I've lived a very privileged existence and continue to. I just think, What if I didn't have that confidence or strength of character, and I was left with certain perceptions of what a woman's place is in the world?

I really want to do roles that have some substance, and I hope writers give us that importance. I can't alone stand up and demand roles like that. It's a collective thing. Writers have to believe in heroines and understand that there's more to a woman than just her curves. It's not that they can't do it. They just choose not to.