Olivia Wilde

Olivia: From a very early age, I made my decisions based on careers that I admire. The one thing that all the actresses I love have in common is that they have diversity in their careers.

Olivia: (about her husband Tao Ruspoli) We're from completely different worlds, but we have the same mission: to bring film and art together with some sort of political activism.

Olivia: I'm now convinced that I'm a doctor. I mean, if someone says they have a pain, I'm like, "Well, that's your spleen."

Olivia: (about Hugh Laurie) He's so talented and sexy. And he's Stuart Little's dad! I'll pass him and be desperate to say something but can't think of anything, so I just kind of mumble and walk away. It's so awkward.

Olivia: I have journalism everywhere-mother, father, aunts, uncle and grandparents. I think I have a strong journalistic streak in me-I'm really critical and analytical. It's funny, because my husband is Italian, and Italians have this tendency to exaggerate all the time.

Olivia: I'm a natural blonde, but I feel like a brunette. I feel like people treat me now how I should be treated. People used to be shocked, when I was blond, that I wasn't stupid.

Olivia: When you're a working actor and you're happy to be one, you can't focus all your energy on acting because you will go crazy. You have to focus as much energy as you can away from yourself.

Olivia: I think there was no other profession for me. I was either going into an insane asylum or to be an actor.

Olivia: Once I took a bus from my home in Maryland to Philadelphia to live on the streets with some musicians for a few weeks, and then my parents sent me to boarding school at Andover to shape me up.

Olivia: (having played Alex on "The O.C." and Thirteen on "House") Most times my name is mentioned in any sort of magazine, it has to add, 'known for playing the bisexual.' And now, after House, it'll be, 'known for always playing the bisexual.

Olivia: I went through a phase when I was 13 where I would only fall in love with people over the age of 19 or 20. I never had a real relationship with any of these people, but it was definitely the guy I wanted to hang out with and wanted to go on trips with. I would be like, "But, Daddy, he's a musician!".

Olivia: (on competing with the other actors on the 3rd season "House" team) We decided very early on that the only way to deal with the competitiveness that was obviously in the air was to joke about it constantly.

Olivia: (on being part of "House") It's strange to be on this rocket ship of a show that doesn't see itself as being successful. When we hear our ratings every week, I'm like, 'No way. What? 20 million people were not watching TV at the same time.

Olivia: If I'm left high and dry at the end of this wild journey, just taking it is a great feeling.

Olivia: (on learning new things in "House") I so enjoy learning about all of these crazy diseases. I particularly love the neurological disorders. I'm a big fan of Oliver Sacks and I love reading his books. It's really fun and I love the medical terminology. It's pretty difficult, but I really enjoy learning it.

Olivia: (on her role as Alex in "The O.C.") I had no idea how many people it would reach and how many lives it would touch. I still get letters from young women around the world saying that I help them accept themselves and how they're different from their peers and whether it's, you know, their sexuality or just because they feel like an outsider much like my character was.

Olivia: Inspiration is the key to everything.

Olivia: I was a tomboy and I didn't have a bunch of brothers but I always wanted them and so I sort of adopted a few of my great friends to be my brother.

Olivia: The thing about boarding school is everyone launches themselves into really serious relationships really quickly, almost out of boredom. You live there and see the people every day. Two weeks in a boarding school relationship is like six months in a normal relationship.

Olivia (in a "Playboy" interview): American society is sexually repressed, and it's refreshing that people are taking it more seriously and being a little bit more open about our fascination with porn.