Being the house ethnic was destroying my life and my sense of myself, because I had been consigned to play every dusky maiden you have ever seen in your life in movies.

I figure if I keep my spirit in shape, the bones will take care of themselves.

I call myself the hardware shelf. There's a lot of awards and honors there. And I have earned that. I didn't ask for it, I didn't beg for it, I didn't pay for it. I earned that. People see the accomplishments - but it's good to remind people that so much strife and labor and tears and heartbreak came before that, that it really is earned.

I love performing for kids, but you can't play down to them, of course. Then it would be 'Captain Kangaroo.'

The thing I get the most that I really love is that people don't so much mention films I've been in or shows I've been in as they say, instead, 'I love you. I just love your perseverance.' That really pleases me.

I've always believed that I had talent, even when I felt like a very inferior sort of person, which I spent a lot of time living my life feeling that I wasn't worthy.

My voice has many dynamics in it. Like my little body.

I sing Broadway stuff in the shower, mostly.

Being in service and being involved in something that is greater than you is what makes a person complete and whole. The very first thing I ever did in terms of activism was for an anti-atom bomb rally.

This is my idea of heaven, coming home and watching the news.

I played a Siamese girl from Thailand. I played an Arabian girl. I did a lot of American Indians. I never, ever was able to do a part without assuming some kind of accent.

If you're going to write about your life, you must write about your life.

I am the happiest Hispanic I've ever met. Truly.

If you're in a business where Latinos only play Indian maidens and what I call 'Conchita Lolita' parts - the little fiery spitfires - you do what you have to do.

I am not exactly Mrs. Good Housekeeping, although I love to cook, bake, even iron, but only because it's not mandatory.

People say that when you get to a certain age that you start to mellow. I have no idea what these people are talking about.

Elvis was a sweet darling, shy fellow, but he was really boring.

If you saw me in 'The King and I,' I had that angelic, virginal face.

Mellowing has never done much for me. You need to keep moving.

The wonderful thing about cabaret is, you can do a lot of things you can't do in a concert. You can't do smoky ballads for 50 minutes in a concert. It's a different animal.

The reason there weren't any, I am surmising, is that a lot of Latin kids, Latino kids, in those days didn't have the money to take those kind of classes.

I've always had this image of this strong, sprightly person who is undaunted by anything; on the contrary, I was one of the shyest, most unsure people you ever met in your life. But I have one very specific quality: I'm plucky. I really am. I would say that's a perfect description of my personality.

A lot of young Latino actors have said to me, 'Why can't we get an Oscar? Why can't we be nominated?' And the terrible truth is that if you don't get the right parts, you're not going to be. Are you going to get an Oscar nomination for one of those Judd Apatow movies? Not likely, no matter what nationality you are.

I am a woman of the moment.