"I guess my pessimistic little PMS attitude paid off."
"Men just like to see sexy women, whether they're strong or weak, and my screen characters appeal to certain types of men."
"A lot of people really aren't open to seeing strong female characters out there. And when they are seen, they have to be some sort of sex symbol. But I just think it's important for you to see it as a voice, and to listen to it as a voice, and to really let it seep in. And I'm gonna keep throwing that kind of attitude in people's faces until they learn to accept it."
"I turned up late for a couple of studio meetings which earned me a bit of a bad reputation. I'm not a rock star, so people don't accept that kind of nonchalance. It's also been a bit disillusioning for me that casting directors and studio executives can't see past how fierce I can be. I can be weak on camera just as I can be weak in real life. It just takes a good director who has a sense of my personal rainbow."
"'Blow me.' That was my favorite line."
Michelle on the Resident Evil special effects:
"I love it. I get off on it! If there's an explosion, I'm "there" even if I'm not in the scene. The danger is the exciting part!"
Michelle on the Licker:
"I'm the only one kissing him. He was my favorite part of Resident Evil. The special effects guys couldn't get me out of their way. It stands 7 feet tall, that puppet. They had a couple of puppets. One had a camera inside. There's a tiny hole in the brain so the guy inside could see out. I went inside it (the puppet). It was fierce."
Michelle on writing and directing:
"I will not die until it happens. And if I do, it will be because of a grave mistake that fate has made."
Sanoe Lake on Michelle:
"If she's thinking it, it's gonna come out of her mouth. That's refreshing because in this town, it's the opposite."
Karyn Kusama on Michelle:
"Michelle is someone who burns up the screen, who holds the screen by sheer presence."
Brian Grazer on Michelle:
"Michelle likes motors. She likes power. The motor is closer to the urban hip-hop vibe that she's about. She gets on that jet ski and kicks ass. She's a tough girl!"
"My family background? Whew. That's pretty cookey."
"I like letting out my aggressions but I don't want to loose my teeth in the process."
“I don’t think it’s narcisstic at all to love yourself and believe in yourself. I think some people are really scared to do that. I have to. If I don’t, I would not succeed in what I do.”
"You always know you can do better, no matter what you're doing. Of course I'm
not completely satisfied because then I'd die. Then I could just slit my wrist
and say "I'm happy. Goodbye."
"They haven't shown me the brains in films. If it's not the brains, I try to take any little message that something has and blow it up as much as I possibly could and make it my own, and love my work. Because it is work, ultimately. You are trying to achieve a goal and you've got stepping-stones. I can't just walk up here and say, 'I'm a star and I want this bit. I want you to write about this. Do it for me.' I've got to get there."
"I turned up late for a couple of studio meetings which earned me a bit of a bad reputation. I'm not a rock star, so people don't accept that kind of nonchalance. It's also been a bit disillusioning for me that casting directors and studio executives can't see past how fierce I can be. I can be weak on camera just as I can be weak in real life. It just takes a good director who has a sense of my personal rainbow."
"It's just all about having someone believe in me, you know what I mean? It's hard to find that in this world, because people judge you either by your education or the way you walk or the shoes you wear. There are too many stereotypes."
"It's not where you live, it's how you live."
"I get so mad at these people. Why do you have to load smudges of makeup on me and him you just powder up and send on his way? I don't care if I don't look up to par; I don't care if people don't think I'm sexy. I'm not here to be sexy to please you. I'm here to be me. I got over that when I was 17, 18 years old."
"I had my picture taken a few times by those new traffic cameras. I also got a jaywalking ticket so maybe I just don't belong on streets."
"I say: Believe it's gonna happen before it gets there and it will, if you believe yourself powerful enough and positive enough, cause i think positive energy over all is something that radiates throughout your body and if your thinking positive and wishing positive then i will happen. If you start thinking negative everything starts falling apart, and everything around you will start falling apart. That is what I would say to somebody, You gotta know it in your heart and it will happen."
On being Vin Diesel's girlfriend: "I guess you could say that in a way. I don't like to call myself anyone's property."
''It's not easy for people to get me because I have different colors, different rays. You've got my Jersey City side, which is so ghetto. Like, hello! And you have the side of me that's a complete sci-fi geek. And you got that side of me that loves and cares for the world and cries during Lilo and Stitch.''
On Vin Diesel: " 'Hey yo, Vinnie!' I don't call him by his last name."
"I went to business school but left after four months because I just didn't want to be a puppet of society, stuck in an office, craving some sunlight."
"I'm very low-maintenance. I just need to be fed. I still live with my mother."
"My favorite part of my body is my brain. I think no matter what my body
looks like I won't be satisfied unless I know how to use it."
On Mila Jovovcich:"She tried to get me to wear makeup and dress more feminine....she discovered very quickly that's a lost cause. I am who I am, and glamour and image play no part in it."
"There are a lot more strong women in America today which explains why there is a niche for me in movies. Women see themselves in my characters."
"People forget we come from an embryo and we're part sperm and part ovary. We have both sides in us. And a lot of people are really intimidated when a girl comes out and she's really tough."
"Whenever a female takes a strong stand for herself the majority of the time they have to really, really narrow it down to being feminine and wearing dresses and just being lipstick chic. And it's either, 'You're too butchy or your too prissy.' It's hard to find that balance."
"You see all these actors who think they're better than you, and all you can do is feel sorry for them 'cause they ain't got their feet. And that shit has jaded me man."
"It's like playing make believe...it is just like taking a psychological journey, going into your brain to find every emotion you possibly can and then tuning them and balancing them out to fit the script....but I think it takes brains. It's not only being a mimic."
"A lot of people really aren't open to seeing strong female characters out there. And when they are seen, they have to be some sort of sex symbol. But I just think it's important for you to see it as a voice, and to listen to it as a voice, and to really let it seep in. And I'm gonna keep throwing that kind of attitude in people's faces until they learn to accept it."
"Yeah, I could easily just start strippin' away and then I'll become feminine, you know what I mean....it's all about how much clothes you wear, really, you know. That's very easy I think in my eyes, to kind of come off of it, cry more often. You know, make myself look a little bit more vulnerable, you know. I don't know. It'd be kinda hard for me. I think I could pull it off though."
"Suddenly, I was exposed to people who said `fuck' and `Let's go hang out'. On the one hand, I had the mentality of my religion, which is really intense (‘These are the ways of God! Feel the wrath!'). But on the other hand, I was thinking `This looks like fun! I want the experience!' When you have an extreme amount of goodness in your life, you're always going to want to rebel, because people love what they can't have. So I started cutting school and doing the bad things. But I was always aware and careful and cautious, because of my upbringing."
"We were considering, ya know, smoking some pot, but then we said this is like...public and stuff and people in America like, censor what they do. In the publics eye, everything must be censored, so I figured i'de be sober today."
"You tell me to wear high heels, I'm going to wear the high heels, but everyone at that party is going to know that I wanted to wear combat boots."
