Michelle Pfeiffer

Michelle Pfeiffer (On actress Brittany Snow, who played her teen daughter in the 2007 film "Hairspray"): I absolutely loved working with her, and I grew so fond of her that I wanted to stick her in my suitcase and take her home with me. She is just darling.

Michelle Pfeiffer: I was considered the black sheep of the family, Neighbors didn't want their kids playing with me.

Michelle Pfeiffer: I'm afraid to be alone, I'm afraid not to be alone. I'm afraid of what I am, what I'm not, what I might become, what I might never become. I don't want to stay at my job for the rest of my life, but I'm afraid to leave. And I'm just tired, you know? I'm just so tired of being afraid.

Michelle Pfeiffer: I'm a perfectionist, so I can drive myself mad - and other people, too. At the same time, I think that's one of the reasons I'm successful. Because I really care about what I do.

Michelle Pfeiffer: Like all parents, my husband and I just do the best we can, hold our breath and hope we've set aside enough money for our kid's therapy.

Michelle Pfeiffer: I used to smoke two packs a day and I just hate being a nonsmoker...but I will never consider myself a nonsmoker because I always find smokers the most interesting people at the table.

Michelle Pfeiffer: For me, getting comfortable with being famous was hard - that whole side of it, the loss of anonymity, the loss of privacy. Giving up that part of your life and not having control of it.

Michelle Pfeiffer: I don't believe men want women to have grotesque plastic surgery or be undernourished and bony. All the plastic surgery in the world can't stop you getting older.

Michelle Pfeiffer (her secret to keeping in shape): It's simple. Eat well, exercise and get lots of sleep but make sure you indulge occasionally. At my age I think, what the hell, and eat a Krispy Kreme doughnut!

Michelle Pfeiffer: When I was younger I really didn't take care of myself at all. I basically lived on Coca-Cola and cigarettes. That was my diet.

Michelle Pfeiffer: I'd always thought that theater people were really weird. And I got into this class, and I just fell in love with the people there. They were funny, witty; they were really interesting. It was the only class that I made an effort to go to.

Michelle Pfeiffer (On picking up a Queens accent for her role in 'Married To The Mob'): I worked with a dialect coach called Richard Ericson who was fabulous, and I also went out to Long Island. The crew was fantastically helpful, too, because a lot of them were from there, and I would pick up things from them. On Long Island, Jonathan Demme's nephew introduced me to some friends of his, who read all my lines into a tape recorder so I could hear the way they should sound.

Michelle Pfeiffer: I also went to court-reporting school to study steno typing. After a while, whenever anybody spoke, in my mind my fingers would be punching it out. Even two years after I quit, my mind still did that.

Michelle Pfeiffer (On her failed marriage to Peter Horton): I was 22. For me it was too young. I think my husband and I were both too young, and as we started growing up our needs changed. We've always been close, even up to the separation, which was very difficult on both of us because we have never stopped caring for eachother. We didn't have an angry breakup - he even helped me pack my car. It wasn't bitter, and we talked every day on the phone.

Michelle Pfeiffer (On the type of guy she liked during her high school years): I liked surfers. I spent most of my time hanging out at the beach. If a guy had a body like a V, blond hair and blue eyes, that's all he needed. My father used to get frustrated because I always went for love. None of my boyfriends had any money.

Michelle Pfeiffer: I'm a better mother if I also work. Leaving home for little spurts is actually a good thing. Things don't fall apart. It empowers them without me hovering, making everyone feel inadequate.

Michelle Pfeiffer (on her role in What Lies Beneath): I thought about Drew Barrymore in the first Scream (1996) - I mean, ultimately that movie was more funny than scary, but the opening sequence was quite terrifying, and she portrayed terror in a way I'd never seen an actress do.

Michelle Pfeiffer (on cosmetic surgery): If that nose or those jowls bother you, do it! But this epidemic of people losing sight of what looks good, the distortion that has been going on is creepy. I've seen some amazing plastic surgery, but who knows if that's what you'll get. There are some freakish things going on right now.

Michelle Pfeiffer: I still think people will find out that I'm really not very talented. I'm really not very good. It's all just been a big sham.

Michelle Pfeiffer (on wearing the Catwoman costume): I thought to myself 'I can't move, I can't breathe, I can't think. I'm unhappy. I can't act'.