Amber Tamblyn

Amber: (on Diane Di Prima) Every woman - writer or not - should read her book, Recollections: My Life As A Woman. She is one of the most influential women living today. Her writing, the lifestyle she paved for herself in the '60s, pretty much everything about her is incredible. She's like the Beyoncé version of Susan B. Anthony.

Amber: (on Jesse Metcalfe in the movie Beyond a Reasonable Doubt) Oh, how Grecian god he looks in this movie next to my pale Scottish pork roast of a behind. I swear that guy's tears are made of Booty Butter Tanning Lotion.

Amber: (on leaving House) House is such a great environment to work in, exactly what every actor wants – good writing, steady work, great actors and great producers. I was the most sad to say goodbye to Hugh, because he's the most incredible and giving actor to work with.

Amber: (on whether Olivia Wilde's return to House had to do with her departure from the show) No, it had more to do with us the actors. They really wanted me to stay, but there are reasons I have to leave, because of other things I'm doing. It was my 13th episode, and that's when Olivia had finished her film and was due back. But I was glad...I was going to be real peeved if I didn't get to do something with her, because I've heard nothing but amazing things.

Amber: (on her character from House) I love her social awkwardness, her inability to connect with the other teammates. She's not really one of the guys; she's the outcast. I know that's strange to like, but it somehow comes off funny and endearing, because she is trying. She's a cute little nerd.

Amber: (about her role on House) I thought, I don't want to do a medical show. That doesn't sound very fun to me. I started asking my friends, and they all went, `Are you an idiot? It's not a medical show. Have you ever seen it?' I felt very stupid for ever thinking that. I rented a bunch of the seasons, and I watched it and I was really blown away.

Amber: (About her friendship with the stars of "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" sequel) When I found out we'd be doing the sequel, I was at dinner with America. We both got a message on our phones at the same time. We all try to see each other as much as we can, just to catch up and give each other advice.

Amber: (on Sarah Michelle Gellar saying they had a lot in common) Yes. We both like nice shoes. (Laughs) We've also led similar careers. We both started out young on soap operas, we both made shows about supernatural things, and we both have a sarcastic sense of humour. We pick up each other's sentences, that's probably the best way to describe it. We were like that from the first day of shooting. I felt like I was reuniting with a friend, you just pick up where you left off...except we never really picked up anywhere.

Amber: (asked how her Japanese is after filming "The Grudge 2" in Japan) Well, I can give cab drivers directions so that's pretty exciting. But Sarah acted as my translator, literally, because the director, Takashi Shimizu, only speaks Japanese. It was a bit of a challenge! Sarah is much better at speaking Japanese than she admits.

Amber: (on the pressures of Hollywood) I don't know what the destructive thing is all about. The destructive craze, self-destruction, it's very bizarre to me. But I have certainly been pressured to losing weight, especially when I was doing the TV show Joan Of Arcadia. I'd have to lose three to five kilos and it really p**sed me off. People want you to look like everybody else. I just want to look like me.

Amber: Wrinkles, soft faces, older faces are signs of wisdom, which is the greatest sign of beauty.

Amber:The idea that someone like Britney Spears is a role model for teenage girls is kind of sad and horrifying. Britney is the epitome of a nonartist. She has nothing to offer but her T&A.

Amber (on the cancellation of Joan of Arcadia): I'd rather be a on a good show that only runs two years than on a dumb show that's a hit for like eight years, which is usually the case these days.

Amber: Joan was really neurotic, almost bipolar, swinging back and forth between emotions - almost like a Lucille Ball.

Amber (in reference to the difficulties that young girls face): Social anxieties and image in general. I've been really fascinated recently by watching the shows on MTV, like Sweet 16 and Laguna Beach. I'm fascinated by this whole new generation of cultureless and deprived white kids in suburbia, and I feel like they have no connection to the outside world, and we're totally glorifying this image. We're glorifying that all white kids are dumb and cultureless. That's what MTV does and that's what a lot of magazines do, and you look at the role models for that as well, and that also plays a major part in it.

Amber: When I was 12 years old, I was on General Hospital, and I would mess around a lot on set. One day, during an emotional scene, the guy who played my father on the show strongly told me to 'sit down and be quite.' It was so traumatic at the time.

Amber: A lot of young poets today, from what I've heard and experienced, can't get their heads past George W. Bush, and I've heard so many poems about this democracy and this era of politics that I'm kind of bored by it.