Although Dorothy in Blue Velvet was humiliated and hurt by men, basically I could react to how she felt.

These same people seem to forget that mother also took a lot of chances with the type of roles she played.

To be an icon is a big job - it's beyond acting. And sometimes it pays, and sometimes it doesn't.

The first time I went to Hollywood, I was 25 years old. My background was mostly Italian.

Mammals are very close to us, but bugs are strange. They're more mysterious and exotic.

My father's films are often very slow for the modern audiences, which are used to a lot of editing. It's the audience that watches the film instead of the director dictating the reaction he wants from you.

I was born with a love of animals, the same way I was born with brown hair. When I was a little girl in Rome, I always had pets, which I adored.

I wanted to make a film about my dad, a sort of love letter, and explain what I understood of his cinema, which was so utopian. I also wanted to give the sense of his cinema, because they have never been very big box-office, but they were very influential.

I live in New York, but I am always delighted to come to Europe because I am European and grew up here until I was 20. I am not only Italian, I am partly Swedish. When my parents divorced, I was three years old and went to live in Paris... when I am offered a film in Europe, I come with great enthusiasm!

I became an actress way into my 30s because I thought that I had to find my own way, and that's why I worked so much in modelling, until I realised that the differences between acting and modelling weren't that great. I always say that modelling is a little bit like being a silent actress.

In America, they are paranoid about ruining the reputations of people once they are dead and cannot answer back. They have this fascination which to me seems cruel and morbid. I do not want any part of it.

When I was a teenager, I thought maybe I'll be a filmmaker, making film documentaries. My dream when I was a girl was I would be hired by 'National Geographic' or work with David Attenborough, but it didn't happen. I became a model.

I always have parmigiano-reggiano, olive oil and pasta at home. When people get sick, they want chicken soup; I want spaghetti with parmesan cheese, olive oil and a bit of lemon zest. It makes me feel better every time.

There are consequences with age, so you have to evolve. I've loved becoming a filmmaker. But I would love to continue modeling, and there isn't really any job for me. It's being marginalized - that's the sad part.

I've had a lot of 'aha' moments, but the big 'aha' about growing older is the mental freedom.

I loved modeling. I absolutely loved it. I was so happy to get the cover of 'Vogue' - 23 times. I keep each copy. I made more money as a model than as an actress or as a filmmaker. In monetary terms, beauty pays more than anything.

There is often a great disparity between a director's personal style and the movies he makes.

There are so many spiders, and their rituals, their mating rituals, their courtship ritual, can be very, very different.

It's a new business for me to be a filmmaker.

Animation translates well to a small screen. When you look at Walt Disney or Chuck Jones - you know, Bugs Bunny - there really isn't any difference if you watch on a very big screen or a computer screen.

Food is a big part of my culture, so everyone knows how to cook. When I came to America and asked a babysitter to softboil an egg for my son and she didn't know how, I was shocked.

If you look at most beauty advertisements, you would think that makeup is only for beautiful women in their early twenties.

The reason of my life is not to be the most beautiful woman in the world.

Before Darwin, our world was very religious. People saw altruism as something given by God for us to be good so that we could go to Paradise.