Celebrity Mentorship Quotes

Frank Sinatra told Floyd Paterson how he should whoop me. Frank Sinatra.

Burgess Meredith taught me a lot about wine.

She's Beyoncé, and I'm [Jay-Z's] new protégée. When we see each other we say hi. We're not enemies, but we're not friends friends.

Gleason became like a mentor of mine. I had Gleason helping me on television, Godfrey on radio.

There are the great people who have grown and loved me, like Katy [Perry] - who started as a fan and told me that one day she hoped I would dress her, and asked for a picture with me at a fan meet and greet. Now she's became one of the world's most important pop stars. I've supported her since the beginning, out of believing in a spark in her and giving her a chance because she was a girl who obviously seemed very passionate about what I am doing.

[Meryl Streep] just sent me an email, and I was like, "That's perfect." She was like, "Yes, Viola, now that you've just had your vow renewal...this is the best part of your life now. There's not anything that you don't know anymore in terms of what's good and bad out there, so now you can just fly." She's always imparting wisdom like that.

Ridiculously - fortunately - my first job was with Dustin Hoffman. I had a little part in this movie called Tootsie. And he taught me how to watch dailies. That it was very important.

I grew up being the girl who would always tune in to watch famous people talk about their careers, how they handled scandals and mega fame. I'm trying to pick up tips.

To be that big of a star and that grounded and that classy, I'm mean [ George Clooney] was a true mentor for me and, as a director, he's incredible.

David Lynch plucked me from obscurity. He cast me as the lead in 'Dune' and 'Blue Velvet,' and people have seen me as this boy-next-door-cooking-up-something-weird-in-the-basement ever since. I was 23 when I first met him, in his bungalow on the Universal lot, and could never have predicted we would have such an enduring relationship.

I'm proud to be involved with Simon Cowell and 'X Factor.'

I had been taking various lessons. I've also had a lot of incredible singers give me a ton of great advice. From Cyndi Lauper, who kind of taught me the basics, and I've also worked with Bird. She's a tremendous coach and she often coaches the contestants on 'American Idol.' I've had a great amount of support.

Madonna and I worked very closely. I was more like the big sister to her.

I remember my mom had a conversation with Sam Jackson about what she should do with our careers and what the next step should be; I was eight and my brother was nine. He said, "You need to get them on Broadway."

I honestly think that it was when the actual voices started to stand up for me. It was the iconic artists like Tony Bennett or Barbara Streisand or Liza Minnelli. When people like that take you under their wing and say in quotations, "He's the next one. He's got my stamp of approval," people trust them.