Elisabeth Shue Quotes

Robert Kennedy was such an inspiring figure. His interest in politics seemed to come not from a desire for power, but from a need to help our society live up to its ideals.

When you get into your 40s, it's all about lighting. It's hard. You have to face whether the way you look is your self-worth or not. Once you get beyond that, it's all about what's in your heart.

After Leaving Las Vegas I did assume that things would get a lot easier than they've been. But it's just been a mirror of the way my career's been from the beginning, so for it to have changed would have been strange. My career has never been perfect.

What keeps this industry challenging as an actor is that you never know how something will turn out. The ups and downs are constant. You're never just smoothly sailing along. You're always going to be on loose footing. That's what ultimately now I expect and accept and that doesn't scare me as much.

For many years, I decided not to do television because I have three children, but now my youngest is finally old enough to be in kindergarten. So I'm not feeling that kind of tug of not being with her as much.

Like, that was weird in 'Hamlet 2,' because I played myself there, fully myself, but then I realized, 'Oh, I'm not playing myself. I'm some weird version of myself.' So as an actress, you're always playing something, I don't even know who I am, how could I become me? I don't know what that is.

It took a lot to get attention in my family. No wonder I'm an actress.

I was on my own at Wellesley, surrounded by a lot of young women who were motivated and intellectually curious. I started to read because I was required to do so for class, but I soon found myself enjoying the seclusion of the library. I came to see reading as an important way to learn about people, including myself.

It would be really wonderful if people connected to the loneliness of what it means to be a human being in the world today.

The hard thing about 'The Saint' was that my character was supposed to die, but then they reshot the ending based on tests and she lives. I created the character based on her dying - she would never have been as innocent otherwise. So I didn't have high expectations for that film.

Sadness, joy, wonder - all feelings come from a place of grounded strength that comes from trust in yourself. We spend so much time trying to control our feelings out of fear that something may happen, that somebody may not love us, or walk away or die. It's only when you stop living in that fear of what other people might do to you or how they will react, only then are you free to be alive.

The darker, more complex and emotional the part is, the easier it is for me. But I don't take any of that stuff home with me at the end of the day.

I may look like the girl next door, but you wouldn't want to live next door to me.

I feel like my first conversation with someone, I really get a good feeling about who that person is and mainly about how open they are.

I was a complete unknown when I did 'Karate Kid.' I'd just done a pilot for a TV show called 'Call to Glory.' And I sat down with John Avildsen and brought still pictures from the show. I brought pictures! At that point, I would've been happy to be in a dog-food commercial.

Almost six years ago, before I was given the incredible opportunity to be in 'Leaving Las Vegas,' I was going through a long period of artistic confusion. I'd spent years doing work that hadn't pushed me enough, and I was beginning to wonder if I had any talent.

The movie I'm really excited about that I had really fun doing is 'Feed the Dog.' It's with Nat Wolff and Selena Gomez. It's really fun. It's raunchy, like 'Superbad' meets 'Risky Business,' kind of. I got to be a really fun character, an out-there Mrs. Robinson-type character. I get to seduce Nat.

I spent my whole life trying to play the games males play.

Growing up with three boys in a heavily male-dominated world, I especially needed to express myself as a woman.

I want to be involved with young people in some way. Teenagers. Because that's the most vulnerable time. I have a fantasy of becoming a teacher one day.

I see myself at a certain age as not being able to play the kind of parts that would keep me stimulated, and I can't imagine my life ending professionally the moment that I've got to go to the plastic surgeon and have my face rearranged.

I understand now that the vulnerability I've always felt is the greatest strength a person can have. You can't experience life without feeling life. What I've learned is that being vulnerable to somebody you love is not a weakness, it's a strength.

I may be the girl next door, but you wouldn't want to live next to me.

I don't think 'Cocktail' was a perfect critical success, but it touched a vein in our culture.