Marisa Tomei

“I feel like theatre gives me the grounding, and keeps me alive, basically. Film gives me the thrill, and it's like a one night stand. But I do enjoy being around people who love it so much.”

“Comedy is what I really want to do and propel.”

“I've just been lucky. I'd like to have more choices, and I'd like to have a leading part.”

“With acting, it was really more of a general kind of experience of really just loving being in the theater.”

“I'm a person who has to eat! I graze every few hours.”

“I think the fantasy of being a movie star is more powerful than the reality. So, for me, even if it's not a great film or a great play I'm doing, to know that you went for it. You had an experience that made you grow artistically and personally. What's really satisfying is knowing that you did a good job.”

“I grew up on musicals, and I know they are quite the thing now, but I'm actually a little indignant, because I started taking singing lessons years ago - I put the time in!”

“I prefer to express myself physically, or non-verbally. I prefer just to react without having a lot of dialogue.”

“I never got into coffee.”

“A man like Wilde was not free to live out of the closet as a homosexual, and women in general were not able to be truly themselves; there was no place for a woman's voice to be heard or for her to express her sexuality.”

“Politics itself is so unsexy, isn't it? But when the politics in creative works are really explored - not used as a vehicle - the results can be really interesting.”

“You have your structure, but within it, it gets fuller and you can highlight other parts of the performance.”

“Singing really oxygenates your blood. You stretch your lungs and take in much more air into them than before. It's really good for your health.”

“Not to get overly psychological about this, but it's probably why I became an actress in the first place: for that kind of freedom and refuge, as well as for the fact that I just love acting so much.”

“I was exposed to the arts, but there was no one in my family who was an artist.”

“I am really not of the school of naturalism. I like style, and you can use more style in theater than in film roles. I love to sink my teeth into a part.”

“You express different energies at different times in your life.”

“I don't prefer much of film over stage... The only thing I prefer is the paycheck.”

“I can't tell stories to save my life. I like to have fun, and I go out and have a lot of fun. But I'm not really an entertainer that way. I'm much more shy.”

“I love being outside and getting fresh air.”