Allison Anders

I've worked on movies where there's all these people coming and going, and I don't even know who they are.

Do we have to be rail thin to possess 'outer beauty' and sex appeal and to be capable of attracting lovers?

There's a persona that musicians carry with them. I like to find what's under the persona.

I was a big fan of X. I've probably seen 100 X shows during their time in the late '70s and early '80s.

I was a single mom.

Art should never be held above our decency to each other.

There's never been a 'girl wonder' mythology.

Let's face it — no matter how independent you are, you still have this nagging need to be desired.

While we can work hard at improving our health, size is no more in our control than the color of our skin, our ethnicity, or our sexual preference.

Maybe women sometimes wish that a man would come along and buy them.

This practice of skinny actresses donning fat suits is essentially the new and acceptable blackface in Hollywood.

My work is better, maybe all filmmakers are better, for Polanski's imprint on cinema. He created language for all of us to use, there is no question about that.

I hope the next actress offered millions to play the 'fat girl for the day' stops to think about this before she signs the contract — even if just to ask, like any professional actress would in any other situation, 'Why does she weigh 350 pounds? And why me for the part?' If the director can't answer these questions, don't do the movie.

Roman Polanski is one of my favorite filmmakers, and John Phillips one of my favorite songwriters. I had the honor to meet each of these men and was almost giddy to be blessed with the chance to tell each artist what his work meant has to me.

I'd be just as happy being a midwife. That's my ideal job.

I had always felt deep down that I owned the characters. Much as I adored and cherished the work of my actors, I felt that they were cast to do and be what I could not physically do or be.

Trauma creates one of four types of people: victims, rescuers, or perps — and if you're really lucky and really strong and very willing and brave, survivors.

Music has always been a great solace for me. It's still something that gives me far more joy than movies, I must say. I love movies, too. But somehow, music can transport you. There are so many different kinds of experiences you can have with music.

I've been amazed watching people who are not ready with their scripts when they're getting a lot of attention.

In 'Honeymoon in Vegas', after Nicolas Cage tells his fiancee that he's given her away to pay for his gambling debts, she gets into a tizzy as if she were a 6-year-old. I couldn't believe it.