“I’m not a very complicated person. I don’t feel like I need a lot of things to make me happy. I feel like part of that is my upbringing, not needing a lot of things around you. It’s the truth. It really is.”

“I would play a hooker… If it was the right hooker!”

“I follow my gut because in the end that’s all you have. I shied away from playing just ‘the girl’ roles because I didn’t find them inspiring.”

“He understands the ups and downs, what they mean. A lot of people think that this life is, you know, so easy, and you get to fly around the world, and you wear fancy clothes. And I can see why it looks so glamorous, but in the end it’s a really tough business, too. And having someone really understand that is important.”

“People don’t see me that way. People don’t know me like that, I couldn’t believe it was me.”

“I don’t know what I did in this life to deserve all this. I’m just a girl from a trailer park who had a dream.”

Oprah: “Were you able to live the moment as well as be in there in the moment?”
Hilary: “I was really in the moment. I made sure that on the red carpet I was in the moment; I wasn’t thinking about “later.” In my seat I tried to be really present when everyone else was getting their award. I wasn’t thinking, “Well, how many is it away?” I was just trying to take them in and appreciate them. Honestly, it was an out-of-body experience.”

“I’m a boring girl who has a bunch of animals and cleans up bunny poop.”

“The second I started passing as a boy I didn’t get hit on, I didn’t get whistled at, I didn’t get talked to. I didn’t get any male attention. That was so nice for the first few weeks but then I realised I wasn’t getting any sort of attention. All the girls wanted hunkier men.”

“Are you kidding? Are you fucking kidding me? John Lotter? I think I’m going to throw up. I’m so mad about that campaign. I think its discusting, its vile. I don’t usually get political but this is so wrong. I will NEVER buy anything from Benetton.” – When Hilary hears about Benetton’s ad campaign featuring John Lotter, the man who murdered Brandon Teena

“My most annoying question is ‘Hilary, are you ever going to play a pretty girl?'”

“I cut coupons, love specials and believe in buying toilet paper and toothpaste in bulk. It’s just who I am.”

“I dreamed of adventure, of being an actress, of escaping, of catching the frog that I heard outside my window. I dreamed I was destined for big things. I don’t know if that is because of my optimism or naivet.”

“You think having all that muscle would make you look fat and bulky, but it didn’t. I just looked more powerful and more defined and absolutely more sexy. Everything sort of got higher and tighter. I could still wear the same pants because my stomach had just got harder and flatter, and my thighs were harder and tigher. There was a downside. I was really shocked to lose my boobs. I knocked a whole cup-size off. My trainer just laughed. He said, ‘I was going to mention it would happen, but I didn’t want to scare you.’ I was like, ‘My boobs… where are my boobs?'” – On Million Dollar Baby

“Love, happiness, confidence. You don’t have to be a tiny size to be gorgeous. Beauty is in a woman’s curves, not a girl’s straight lines.” – On what makes a woman beautiful

“I liked The Other One, because I think it’s the first independent movie I ever saw, and it had this profound effect on me. It ahs stuck with me all these years.” – On her favorite indie-movie

“Karoo is South African for countryside. I found her while on location- totally flea-ridden, starving, ticks in ears, the whole thing. So I brought her back with me. When I find a stray animal, it doesn’t matter where it comes from if it means saving its life. – On her dog Karoo

“I kind of live by the motto, ‘Don’t expect anything in life.’ I’m happier that way. I don’t have unrealistic expectations or expect grand things to happen to me.”

“I’m thankful for that background because it’s made me not connected to material things. I’m most comfortable hanging out at home in my sweats, knitting, playing games, and cutting out recepies, travel articles, and coupons from newspapers.”

“I’m a fighter, I’ve been a fighter my whole life.”

“I like challenges, I like to be inspired, and I have a joy for life.”

“Loyal, trustworthy, I’m an animal lover, passionate, eager to learn, this is not such a good one, but I’m impatient.” – Asked to describe herself

“I struggle with body confidence- I think everybody does. I mean, I think, God, if I could only change that. I have a big forehead, and just the other day I saw myself on video and all I could watch were my lips- they’re so big and elastic. It’s hard to come to a place of contentment with your body, especially in a world where looking a certain way is so glamorized. But you can’t dwell on so-called imperfections- that’s unhealthy.”

“I just finished a movie about the women’s suffrage movement, and I can’t believe that less than 100 years ago, women weren’t even allowed to vote. We’ve come a long way, but we have a long way to go- it still feels like a man’s world a lot of the time. The great thing about my part in The Core is that I was the most masculine figure in the spaceship even though I was surrounded by men.”

“I wanted pets growing up, but my parents always said no. So when Chad and I moved in together, I said, ‘Just so you know, when I bring home an animal, you have to be OK with it.’ That was my only moving-in-together stipulation. Fortunately, he loves animals, so we have Seuss, our parrot; Deuce, our cat; Tanner and Lucky, our dogs; and Luna, our big fat bunny – that’s the family!”

“It’s hard for me to accept rules if there’s no logical reason for them.”

“I’m only twenty-seven, and I’m not easy to pigeonhole. But if you need to do that, if it makes you feel comfortable, okay, fine. Here I am: I’m a work in progress … and always will be.”

“I guess I’m just not in it for the celebrity of it. I’m in it because I love it.” – On her work as an actress

“So I go home, look at Chad, and say, ‘I think I need to quit because I just got fired off of 90210, I’m not good enough for Beverly Hills, 90210. I just got fired. I must not know what I am doing.’ Honestly, I was devastated.

“The great thing about my Oscar was when I received it- they put the name plate on with my name crooked, and I went home and I was like ‘I am going to have to take that back and have them fix it.’ Then I said to myself, ‘This reminds me that I’m not perfect, my performance wasn’t really perfect, and that I still have a lot to learn.’ To a lot of people, this represents perfection and it’s not.”

“I’ve realized that as an actor you have to just keep working really hard and studying your craft. I think I thought maybe things would be easier after the first Academy Award, that I would get better job opportunities, but then you really realize that there’s not a whole lot of great quality out there, for women especially. It’s not just something that women say; it’s the truth. Because of that I had to be specific about not just doing something that I didn’t want to do, but I also needed to pay my bills. I didn’t do job after job after job. I would do a job and then still keep working on acting, whether it would be reading a play – something that’s inspiring – with a bunch of actors, hearing it, studying, reading books about acting, and watching actors. I think it’s an ever-evolving craft. And I think it’s something that you always need to work at.” – On working as an actor

“I have to say that I didn’t ever really see it as rejection, per se, and I don’t know why. I guess if I saw it as rejection, then I would allow myself time to focus on something that seemed negative, instead of realizing, “I have an audition tomorrow,” and I was auditioning a lot, and, “If I focus on why I didn’t get that, then I’m not going to be able to be present and work on this.” At that time it was easier for me to let go of the past and just move on. Although there were so many times when it didn’t mean I didn’t get depressed if I didn’t get something that I really wanted. I mean, I’m human, and I absolutely would get bummed out, especially if I worked really hard on something, and it came right down to me and someone else. But I’d try to get feedback. Was there something that I could have done differently? Was it something I can work on the future for the next job? And try to gain a positive from it? And sometimes it wasn’t anything I’d done. It was just the blue-eyed girl looked better with the brown-eyed boy. You can’t change that; you can’t control that.” – On getting rejected for roles

“As in life, your mind can be the hugest obstacle or tool, depending on how you choose to use it. And I find that a lot of people who are successful in life say, “I can do this, and I will do this.” Their minds don’t get in their way; whereas people who wake up and say, “Oh, I can’t,” their mind is in their way, and it’s going to stop them from doing what they need to do to achieve their dream.” – On trying to achieve your goals

“I think that if you can grow together, you’ll stay together. The most important qualities in making a relationship work are a blend of three ingredients: communication, respect and believing in another person. I’ve been with my husband for over twelve years. That’s what made our relationship work. We have a mutual respect, the communication is key and believing in one another makes you feel like you can do anything!” – On what’s important in a relationship

“Being a teenager was a horrid time.”

“I haven’t tucked a sock in my pants for three years.”

“One thing I’ve learned: You never know where life is taking you, but it’s taking you.”