I have always been an active part of my community.
My English was limited to vacationing and not really engaging with Americans. I knew 'shopping' and 'eating' English - I could say 'blue sweater,' 'creme brulee,' and 'Caesar salad,' - so I came here thinking I spoke English.
I want my little girl to tell me who she is so I can encourage her and not impose my desires for her on her life. I want her to dream big and to know that if she is willing to earn it, she can have anything - and become anything.
And I highly recommend for all the women in the world, even if they're 71, you can never take for granted that he loves you. It's always good to flirt with him. It's a great sport.
I don't want to be size zero and I'm glad I'm not.
I said, 'I'm going to the United States to study with Stella Adler and do movies because nobody here has done it and my passion is films.' But I came here and I didn't speak English, I didn't have a green card, I didn't know I had to have an agent, I couldn't drive, I was dyslexic.
Every woman who thinks she is the only victim of violence has to know that there are many more.
What you need is one black dress I call Plan B. It doesn't have to be fabulous, it just looks good, covers up the problems and is neutral enough for dinner, business, a date, a funeral. You don't overwear it, you don't overwash it, because the Plan B is - gold.
I didn't think marriage worked. I thought everybody who was married was secretly miserable - that it was something they just put up with for their children.
My grandmother was energetic and fearless - a talented poet and songwriter. She was also interested in chemistry and history and medicine, taking care of the people in her hacienda in Mexico, delivering babies. She could have become anything, but this was the 1930s, and she was forced into an arranged marriage.
It's very easy to feel someone's pain when you love them.
I love to cook when I have the time. I don't cook French or Mexican food with exact recipes. I just go to the supermarket and buy things that look good, and I mix it all together and invent something. Ninety-five percent of the time, I'm lucky. Sometimes not so lucky, and I say, 'Let's go out to dinner.'
If a man lets all of my dogs sleep in the bed with us, then that is the most romantic thing. You must love my dogs in order to love me. A man who is nice to my animals and doesn't shoo them away - well, that's the height of romance.
I say that the most liberating thing about beauty is realizing that you are the beholder.
I always look forward to seeing a man who has more brains than me.
They offered me that film before I did Frida and I said, no, I'm not capable of directing. Then after seeing Julie direct, I was inspired by it. She motivated me to do it, because we don't have role models as woman for directors.
When you are passionate about life, it keeps you young. Sometimes I wake up at 4:00 am just to see how my roses look.
Art and activism seem to go together naturally, the idea being that if you're an entertainer, you can have a voice, and if you have a voice, you can make a difference. But if I were not an actress, I would still try to extend myself beyond my little micro-universe of my job, family and personal joy.
I'm saving my sick days for when I'm feeling better.
I believe that change keeps you young.
You can be a thousand different women. It's your choice which one you want to be. It's about freedom and sovereignty. You celebrate who you are. You say, 'This is my kingdom.'
There is a subconscious way of taking violence as a way of expression, as a normality, and it has a lot of effects in the youth in the way they absorb education and what they hope to get out of life.
I have a small house so I borrow everything except art, that's what I love.
Sometimes evolving doesn't mean transforming; sometimes it just means owning what is there.
No surgical tweaks. No Botox either. I think it is terrible, these girls in their late 20s injecting their faces and lips. One told me, If I kill my muscles now, I'll never get wrinkles. Can you imagine?
When it is important for you to say something and you find a vehicle to say it, then go for it. It is so rare when that happens so I think every minute spent fighting for it is always worth it. Even if nothing ends up happening, it's still worth the fight.
I keep waiting to meet a man who has more balls than I do.
If you're paralyzing your face in your 20s and 30s, you're not exercising the muscles that give it strength. My feeling is, laugh, cry, move your face.
Botox, trust me I've been tempted - but I resist! Think about what happens to your muscles - and your skin - if you're sick and don't move for a few days.
I've never met anybody who enjoys every moment of making a movie as much as Pierce Brosnan. He doesn't stress out too much, he is always in a good mood. And he has little rituals throughout the day, which he does with a lot of style - almost like he is celebrating life, not just the work. He has to have his special cup of tea, in nice china, not Styrofoam.
It doesnt matter what you have faith in, just that you have faith.
When I feel stressed, I turn to food for comfort, but I don't like to diet and I'm not good at it.
I have a ranch, which is my favorite place in the world.
No woman has to be a victim of physical abuse. Women have to feel like they are not alone.
I'm concerned about my daughter because she will not believe in Santa Claus. No matter what I say to her, she just doesn't buy it, and she's 2. I refuse to give it up. I say, 'There is a Santa Claus,' and she says, 'Okay, Mommy. In pretend world, right?' She really doesn't believe.
You can have a spiritual awakening and discover a new side of you at any age. And best of all, love can happen at any age. Life can just start to get exciting when you're in your 40s and 50s. You have to believe that.
Do I envy Madonna’s body? Yes. Do I thank God that she has it? Yes! If you’re fifty-something and you look like Madonna, and you put a lifetime’s work in the way you look, then flash it to the world!
I don't see women and think of them as competition or with judgment. Women really move me. I feel connected to all kinds of women. I am angry because I think we've been mistreated throughout history in different countries, including America. I admire women.
I'm a country girl. I have to be in nature, so my daughter is exposed to it a lot.
I realize now that I've hoped to be great - as an actress, as a mother - because I want to embody the greatness of women who didn't get to be all they could have been. Their dignity, their courage, and their brilliance make me strive to be better. They're a part of me.
How I would describe my characters is absolutely different from how I would describe myself.
I had to endure the worst time of all in terms of racial discrimination in Hollywood when i first started out. It was inconcievable to American directors and producers that a Mexican woman could have a lead role.
People say we're all identical, but Jennifer Lopez is an American. She's from New York. She doesn't have an accent. Some of these Latin people - their Spanish is pathetic. They learned it when they became famous as Latinos.
I received so many hate letters when I breast-fed a starving baby in Africa. I was in Sierra Leone in 2009 and I was weaning my child at that time - she was not there with me. There was a hungry baby who was crying because his mother had no milk, and I thought, 'Why throw away my milk if I can give it to a baby who needs it?'
After doing a juice cleanse, I'm motivated to eat healthier and not emotionally. Cleansing is like my meditation. It makes me stop, focus and think about what I'm putting into my body. I'm making a commitment to my health and hitting the reset button.
This is not love. It is a crime... You can't look the other way just because you have not experienced domestic violence with your own flesh.
I'm not a skinny girl. I push it. I'm at the limit of chubbiness at all times, but I'm happy at all times.
I think it's important that kids have responsibilities and understand the value of things, but I think it's great I get to travel the world with my daughter.
I can learn my lines fine. It’s just reading them in the first place that is the problem.
They thought I was crazy in Mexico when I said, 'I'm going to Hollywood.' Nobody thought I could make it.
Life is tough; and if you have the ability to laugh at it, you have the ability to enjoy it.
I was privileged to grow up in Mexico at a time when you could play in the streets. We lived not too far from the ocean, and we would be outside all the time with the neighbours' kids, running free. What better place could there be for a child?
I directed a movie and now, I'm going to do the editing.
'Frida' was a joy; this was delicious, I couldn't wait every day to get to the set, although I was exhausted, and have my leg get cut off or lose the baby or be in her shoes and get to play my hero and be able to go places emotionally. You know, we live for parts like this. This is a dream for an actor.
So you have to keep waiting and then they give you the script and it's terrible. Then you have to go to the rewrite and they're very upset because you didn't like it. I went through that for seven years.
Producing is hell, writing is frustrating, acting is really satisfying, directing is heaven.
I noticed in the past, a lot of guys who like strong women, they really freak out if you're not strong 24/7. Or they complain about you being strong, then the moment you're not strong, they're like, 'Oh, no, no, no.'
I think I'm very good at adjusting to anything and to any situation, and if you are good at being in the moment and adjusting, you can actually have a clear vision of what to do with things or how to do things.
You want to do movies that your children can watch, and that your children can have fun at and enjoy the experience of shooting.
People often say that 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder,' and I say that the most liberating thing about beauty is realizing that you are the beholder. This empowers us to find beauty in places where others have not dared to look, including inside ourselves.
My driving abilities from Mexico have helped me get through Hollywood.
As a woman, you should be more at ease with your sexuality when you are in your 40s...You are more self-assured about that part. And that's the way it should be.
I don't believe in the so-called Latino explosion when it comes to movies. Jennifer Lopez doesn't have an accent. She grew up in New York speaking English, not Spanish. Her success is very important because she represents a different culture, but it doesn't help me.
Some men have a silly theory about beautiful women - that somewhere along the line they'll turn into a monster. That movie gave them a chance to watch it happen.
Life is about chasing after the things you think are truly worth it, even if they don't happen, I'd rather have nothing but know I didn't settle for something I didn't want!
Life is about creating new opportunities, not waiting for them to come to you.
Find your own style. Don't spend your savings trying to be someone else. You're not more important, smarter, or prettier because you wear a designer dress.
I think it's nice for women to try to be sexy for their man.
My mother was devoted to helping people - with my father's money! - who had great voices but didn't have the financial means to study music. He and my mum gave away dozens of music scholarships, and my mum opened a school in town, introduced opera to children and created fantastic programmes.
...you have to understand that motherhood has to be your priority. It's important work.
Don't try to dress like me or wear your hair like mine. Find your own style.
A mother is willing and capable of doing anything for her children. You can justify it if you do something for your children, especially as a Mexican mother. I don't know about some other nationalities, but the Mexican mothers are like that. They will do anything for their children.
My new movie, Fools Rush In, is a romantic comedy and the girl I play in that is very warm, very sweet.
I work hard, I make my own living and I love it. I like having financial independence.
I have never denied my background or my culture. I have taught my child to embrace her Mexican heritage, to love my first language, Spanish, to learn about Mexican history, music, folk art, food, and even the Mexican candy I grew up with.
I have a farm and I love it there. There's really nothing to do, but even watching the chickens, its fun.
I think that it's important for every single person, no matter what they do in life, to participate in the well-being of humanity and the planet. Don't let a year go by knowing you didn't make an effort to do something - no matter how small - outside your own problems and drama.
I will not have Botox. You know why? Because I eat! I eat the fat, I eat the vegetable, I eat everything. If you exercise and you don't eat enough, it takes its toll on the skin.
I have tried my whole life to represent my Mexican roots with honor and pride.
I'm suspicious of people who talk about their feelings to the whole world
I think today that's a very big problem because of the world we live in and the social media and everything... everybody is obsessed with their own identity, but seen through other people.
If you're feeling blue, lock yourself in a room, stand in front of a mirror, and dance - and laugh at yourself and be sexy. Dance the silliest and ugliest you've ever danced. Make fun of yourself and try to recover your sense of humor.
I proved to myself that if I believe in something and set my mind to it I could actually accomplish it.
My accent was horrible. In Mexico, nobody says, 'You speak English with a good accent.' You either speak English, or you don't: As long as you can communicate, no one cares.
Sometimes when we try to get outside of ourselves, to be like someone else, you miss out on so many beautiful things that you don't know that you are because you're looking at someone else.
I just love life. I'm excited about things in life. I think that if you're excited about life, you are excited about waking up and doing things with your life every day.
I don’t have stamina in exercise...but I have it in life.
Every unwanted animal ends up on my farm: alpacas and horses and dogs and cats and chickens and ducks and parrots and fish and guinea pigs.
Being a mother is more exhausting than working, and sometimes I push myself too hard and burn myself out. I can appreciate how exhausting it must be for women who have to do everything themselves all the time.
In fighting for women, we fight for humanity. We fight for the future - for everyone.
There has never been a female director who has won an Oscar. There has only been one woman who won at the Cannes Film Festival.
What once was an expression of who I was - acting - also became my hiding place.
I think it's not a femme fatale when someone is not doing it to manipulate men or be like a black widow. She loves him. She does it out of love. She wants him so badly to stay with her.
If it wasn't because of my high heels, I would still be in Coatzacoalcos with 10 children.
What is important is to believe in something so strongly that you're never discouraged.
If you love food and you love red wine and they put you in France, you’re in a good place and you’re in a bad place at the same time. You have to weigh yourself every day, and you have to have an alarm number. When you get to that number, you have to start putting it in reverse.
Your empathy for other mothers is such a natural instinct and it's such a beautiful thing that we all connect, and we should all help each other.
If I've been indulging in rich foods, a cleanse is a wonderful way to hit the reset button.
People always underestimate me. But if you stick around long enough, act out of conviction, and try to be honorable in everything you do, good things will come to you.
I believe eating well, and with people you love, is about feeding your body, heart, and soul - I used juicing to ensure I covered my nutritional bases every day, and as a tool to restore inner balance if my body needed a break from too much indulgence.
Before you do anything, think. If you do something to try and impress someone, to be loved, accepted or even to get someone's attention, stop and think. So many people are busy trying to create an image, they die in the process.
I think being able to be malleable is a great weapon and I'm a very, very good strategist. I create the most amazing strategies in my head and I have created the most extraordinary strategies in my head for my career.
I've stolen a couple of hearts and they are in my private collection!
I think if I was not in love, I would probably let myself go faster. Love gives me the vanity to continue.
Imagine if I'd said, 'I have to be the best actress - I want that and nothing else.' I never would have directed. I never would have produced. I never would have done a beauty line. I would have just worried about getting a job or been frustrated that I wasn't getting the job that I wanted. I was ready to be a businesswoman.
I think that a lot of women that know they're going to be part of history somehow decide to have a character to be remembered by.
What worries me the most is that most men are so weak. Because of that they act like they don't care and like machos - because they are too fragile inside. They're scared of confrontation and afraid of so many things.
I've never had anything done on my face. I've never had dermabrasion or peels or injections of any kind, nothing.
~When Valentina was not even 1 month old, my aunt [gave me the best advice]: 'Put her to sleep yourself every night. Sing to her and cradle her in your arms and sit by her side - every night. Because one day you won't be able to, and it's going to happen really fast.~
I know the only reason that I haven't gotten many good parts is because I am Latin - and they tell it to my face a lot of times.
Beauty products always cheer me up and give me hope. If it makes you feel pretty, why not?
I'll tell you, there is nothing better in life than being a late bloomer. I believe that success can happen at any time and at any age.
It sounds trite to go after men who are nice but when you've been hurt a lot it becomes appealing.
The thought of somebody pulling and cutting around my face gives me stomach ache. Plastic surgery would be so painful. What if it doesn't look good? What if they made a mistake? I couldn't do it.
Somehow I am really relaxed within the chaos of having a baby - and anyone who's a mother knows it's very hard to relax, because there is so much to do and worry about!
If I go on a diet and work out, I'm always in a bad mood. I'd rather be a little heavier but nice.
I love family films. Of course, as a mother who has to watch so many movies, you really appreciate it when somebody makes a film that is for everybody - family entertainment that's really for the family, where everyone has a good time.
I love being a wife and homemaker - because it's my choice. My husband doesn't expect me to do it. I don't mind doing things for him because he does so much for me; we both feel that way so there is no power struggle.
Leave it to the Catholics to destroy existence.
When I'm doing a movie, that's when I relax. As stressful as it can be, as much pressure as it should be, making movies is still the place where I feel the most at ease and I truly enjoy it. That's why I make so many.
I really do love Diana Ross; I grew up listening to her records. I grew up in a little town in Mexico, so while we got the music, we never got the experience of watching her.
I became obsessed with all these women who die never feeling they did anything extraordinary with their lives.
Everybody has a weakness. Mine is food.
I think if you are young and you have children, you still have so much to prove. When you have children later in life, you lose a bit of that urge for working.
When I first came to Hollywood I was told to go out with an agent because it was good for my career. So I went to a party with him because it was good for my 'career.' Well, he thought the whole thing was a big date. Needless to say, I was very upset.
