Sixties fasion is such an obsession of mine. I love the Mary Quant look and old courrèges - things that are very taylored.

You can’t always put it into words, but the main thing is to make sure you’re not miscast or typecast. You want to keep your range open.

I’m blessed with a lot of energy and stamina. I can’t stand sitting still. I went to a spa once with my mom and I was like, ‘Get me out of here!’

I don’t really like to go out very much. I’m not scandalous. I’m not, like, in this to be famous. I also find it so embarrassing when you read about people and it’s like they were so trashed at Skybar and stumbling around. I don’t want to be that person. That’s just so embarrassing to have that written about you.

I don’t want to go to another roller-coaster ride of a movie. If I want that, I’ll go to Magic Mountain. I’m really interested in the young directors that are doing different things in cinema. I think the movies people will hold onto are the Rushmores and the Being John Malkoviches. Those are the kind of films I want to do; that’s what I’m passionate about.

I love old music, old movies, screwball comedies, vintage clothes, and basically I’m an old-fashioned gal.

I’m always looking for school uniforms, trying to squeeze into kids’ clothing…It’s sort of a party trick, the way I can get myself into tiny dresses.

I’m the worst at picking what movies are going to do well. I have no idea. I’m really surprised if a movie I like does well.

I can do the Chipmunk voice and impressions of Judy Garland, Debbie Reynolds and Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music (1965). I could probably do the whole Von Trapp family.

It’s an addiction. I love clothes. I like to go down Melrose and look in all the windows and I go to different flea markets. I have lots of costumes. You never know when you’re going to have to dress up like a milkmaid from the 1600s.

I was labeled a ‘theatre type’ in high school, which made it hard to fit in and feel part of things.

People say: “Oh yeah, jobs for the boys”. I wish. You’ve got to fight even harder with a family like mine.

You have to keep reminding yourself it’s not about money, because there is a lot of money to be made in this business if you’re willing to do whatever. But that’s not what I’m thinking about. I continue only to take movies because I love the script and because I really want to do it.

I don’t think I’m very much like anyone else, really. I’m sure there are aspects of other actors that I share, but I don’t see anybody else and go, “Damn, they stole my thing”. I’m me, and I like that there are people who have an appreciation for that.

I don’t want to be a babe. I don’t want vanity to ever get in the way, because I think to maintain that, you have to be aware of yourself all the time, and that gets in the way of acting. My job’s not to be the beautiful person. My job is to be the best actor I can be.

I always choose roles that are, you know, hopefully different from the last role. I don’t wanna do the same thing over and over again because that’s, well, first of all that’s no fun.

It’s a lot harder to do an ensemble because your energy is going in so many different places, and you have to cover everybody. You have to sort of split your attention.

The first album I ever got was “Like a Virgin”. It was during the Iran Contra conflict-I thought she was saying, “Like a Persian”.

For a while I was like, “Oh my God, anyone that would release an album as an actor is the biggest fool ever”, but I happened to have sung all my life before I was an actor. Why are musicians allowed to become actors? No one ever gives them flack for that.

I sort of always liked everything antique — it always just felt like a treat, like a little treasure. Compared to old music, new music just felt, by and large, sort of soulless. Though I’m sure there are tons of horrible old records I know nothing about.

Honestly, I don’t want to live my life being influenced by anticipating other people’s reactions to what I do. The moment you sense someone is making something because they think people are gonna buy it or like it, it’s just so phony! The public has a nose for phony like nobody else.

Certain aspects of my personality are always going to come out on-screen. I guess that’s just me - if they say I’m quirky, I’m quirky. It’s better than being boring.

I think the people who become the most famous aren’t necessarily these genetic products of the weird American beauty ideal. I mean, all those Playboy bunny types. They’re not filling seats in the theatre

I don’t know about royalty. Maybe aristocracy. But I do love LA. There are certain aspects that are cheesy. You know, plastic surgery, fake blondes. But they’re easily avoidable.

As an actor you want time at home, what amounts to half a year of working and half a year at home

I believed in Santa Claus until I was like 14.

I’m writing a script with a friend. We’ll write for a while and then procrastinate for long periods of time - play chess, play pool, have some coffee.

I wasn’t really the most charming person, socially - it took me a long time to develop my people skills - but the one place I was always comfortable was onstage, acting or singing.

(about co-star Will Ferrell in “Elf”) He’s great! He’s a funny man. He’s so nice, and actually he’s totally unaware of his celebrity, which is funny.

(about her parents) They give me advice all the time. At first it was like, “So now you’ve decided to be an actress, and I’m gonna give you this piece of advice.” But I don’t have any tales; it’s always sort of a collection of advice. It doesn’t have any rules of thumb. They’ve encouraged my sister [Emily] and I do to what we love to do and do what we want to do, so that sort of started us off having a sense of “Do this because you love it,” not “Do this because you want to be famous.”