Sherilyn Fenn Quotes

1. I don't flirt and I don't play the people that I'm meeting with.


2. Now I know why guys like to hug girls. You guys just want to cop a feel. I can't believe that I've fallen for it all these years!

3. At the very least, my tastes are out of the ordinary.

4. Harrison Ford... I love him. He's a man's man.

5. Bleaching my hair for "Two Moon Junction"… my hair was fried and I looked like an idiot.

6. Generally, Hollywood makes the same stories over and over. I've never wanted to do the same thing twice. If a script doesn't surprise me in some way, I simply can't commit to the project.


7. I can sing, but my voice is untrained. I'd like to do a musical someday.

8. I don't want my body to look like a man's. I just want to tone my body.

9. I love to dance. But I don't like being up in front of tons of people. I didn't have the desire to be performing in front of a lot of people. So it wasn't something I ever seriously considered.

10. I don't think I could ever do a network sitcom because the humor is often based on some trite circumstance. I don't want to be a part of a show where it's mostly about coming up with the jokes.

11. I loved working on Of "Mice and Men". It was a wonderful group of people. John Malkovich is to me one of the best actors around right now-and a lot of fun to work with.

12. I really loved "Twin Peaks". When I saw the two-hour pilot, they screened it in the big theatre. I said: I don't know what is going to happen. I'm in this and I don't understand it. This is never going to sell. Who's going to watch this thing?"

13. I say what I feel. I try to be tactful, but I can't not say what I feel. I have a really big problem with that.

14. I was a brat. It was crazy, I was very picky. In other words, I didn't take advantage of what was happening.

15. I think there's an anxiety in life where we automatically tend to look to the next thing or we're complaining about the past. Worrying is not going to make it happen or not happen.

16. I was told once that I didn't play the Hollywood game, and that's why I wasn't a big star. What they meant when was that I don't go to parties, and when I go to an audition and I don't like the script, they know it.

17. I've always been drawn to Marilyn Monroe, but certain aspects of her story may be too sad to tell.

18. I'm contemplating moving to London for a period of time. I've been in Los Angeles for 15 years and I'm really tired of it. I'm continually uninspired by what's being sent to me. Even by huge films that they're doing there. They're just awful.

19. It's completely different to work with a woman that is my age, maybe younger.





20. In a perfect world, I could be doing some bigger films and balance that with some independent films because they seem to be the most challenging and unique.

21. Jessica Lange in Frances... was dramatic and passionate and one of the strongest performances I've seen a woman do.

22. It's not sometimes realistic to think that something magical can happen, but I think I look for the magic.




23. My mother's been married many, many times and grew up believing in love like that. It's remarkable.

24. The difference between working with a man and a woman...is immense.

25. There is something at work that's bigger than us. It's about having a trust in life and being at peace that things are happening the way they should. You do what you do as well as you can do it, and then you don't worry or agonize about the outcome.

26. "Twin Peaks" was special because it was so groundbreaking. In the early '90s it really changed television a lot. A bunch of weird shows, like "Northern Exposure", came on after that.




27. We all have sadness in our life and things that we can draw upon.

28. When I read the script, I was like: "Hello, woman in a box". I had to explore that to the end.

29. Women do feel like they're in a box. Society, Hollywood, some men-they want to wrap women up in a neat little package.

30. You say a line and you wait for them to laugh, then you say another line and you wait... It felt weird to me. But it's interesting and the energy is almost like theatre, I suppose, with all the people there.

31. I wanted to be a marine biologist, then I wanted to be a stewardess. Then I met this lady that was really neat, and she cut my hair once; so then I wanted to cut hair! But by far my biggest dream when I was young was to have the perfect home and the picket fence, and babies crawling around, and I'd be cooking food in the kitchen.

32. I'm sure you've heard that description: "Jimmy Stewart from Mars." Yes. Because a part of him is really so sweet and pure and innocent. He'd tell me my take was "Jim-dandy", or "Doggone it, Sherilyn, that was cool". His direction is abstract. He doesn't ever say: "Go do this" or "Go do that". He'll just tell you some weird story, or when I did "Wild at Heart" (1990) David's direction was: "Only think of this: bobby pins, lipstick, wallet, comb, that's it." He's very creative and unafraid of taking chances. We'd sit down and: "Oh, I don't like this scene". In "Twin Peaks" (1990) he rewrote this entire scene and had me dance in the middle of the room for like three minutes. "Just groove, honey. Just keeeep moving". I was like: "Oh, okay. I feel like an idiot. What am I doing? Okay". Then you see it and with the music, he's set this whole world up, this whole mood. I really respect him, he's wonderful. (on director David Lynch)

33. When I was a kid I saw "Kansas City Bomber" (1972), and I remembered thinking how beautiful and how strong Raquel Welch's character was. So I went home and dressed up my Barbie like her character. I borrowed one of my brother's little toy plastic football helmets and I made Barbie a Kansas City Bomber outfit.

34. My acting has always been about doing things that I can grow from, that say something, or should be heard.

35. I remember blowing my first scene. I said: "Cut!" I didn't know the director was supposed to say that. (on her movie debut)

36. Man, woman. Night, day. It's a really huge difference. It's completely different to work with a woman that is my age, maybe younger. David's encouraged her, through his example of exploring dark places within oneself, but she's less abstract. I was blown away by the script of "Boxing Helena" (1993). I had heard all the stories and I didn't want to read it. Then my agent said: "It's a dream. Just read it. It's pretty interesting." I was shocked that a 19-year-old girl had that perspective on relationships, that understanding. Then I met with her and we just clicked. Because we didn't really meet - just one or twice, very briefly - on the set of "Twin Peaks" (1990). (on differences between working with David Lynch and Jennifer Chambers Lynch)

37. Everyone was a little concerned when I announced I was going to do it. But the people who've seen the pictures have said: "That's it?!", as if they were expecting something horrible. It's an actor pictorial; people who want to see girls spreading their legs and doing kind of crude things are gonna go to the centerfold, they're not gonna look at an actor's pictorial. Well, they can look but they're not gonna get what they want. The pictures are really beautiful, but they just make people look at you in a certain way. (on posing for Playboy magazine)

38. My grandpa (jazz musician Art Quatro) would always ask: "What instrument do you hear when you listen to music?" I'm like: "All of it!" He's like: "Well, then you're a singer!"

39. Matthew Perry was darling and very funny. All my scenes were with Matthew, basically, so it was fun. I like the show. I was happy to be a part of it. (on playing in "Friends" - 1994)

40. I think David Lynch really adored the Fifties - the simplicity, the conservative attitude - and I think the show, though it has a timeless feeling, is kind of Fifties also. The saddle shoes are part of that - Audrey knows she can be daddy's little girl in her saddle shoes, and she puts on her red pumps, smokes cigarettes and says has down the hall. Maybe it's not her personality so much as the need not to be daddy's little girl…(on playing Audrey Horne in "Twin Peaks" - 1990).

41. I liked "Boxing Helena". I think it was an almost impossible story to tell. Although it has some flaws, I think it's neat. I think it's a really neat story; it's a beautiful story. (About "Boxing Helena" - 1993)

42. I think it's just basically that on the surface things seem all one way, this nice little small town. But underneath there's a lot of dirt and a lot of sadness and deprivation. Two girls in plaid skirts and sweaters, smoking cigarettes and talking about murder in the girl's bathroom! That's my kind of movie; I loved it! (About "Twin Peaks" - 1990)




43. I got into acting by a complete fluke. I was 17 and it was like: "I don't wanna go to high school, what will I do? I don't know. Let's see…I'll act!" So I was doing films before I had even taken an acting class.

44. I always thought it would be fun to play (Marilyn) Monroe. But who could play her, you know? You can't do it right out, you can't do her story without letting yourself for all kind of criticism. Candy Cane is like a lot of women were in the 60s when Monroe was a star and a role model. She comes from a small town, she's in a bad relationship, but she's fighting to get out of it, to change, and she enters this fantasy land. She has the bleached blond hair like many women had at that time and she thinks it would be fun to be like Monroe. So she follows the fantasy in her own small way and she finds out, guess what, that glamorous life stinks! She sets herself up to be abused and destroyed like Monroe was. (on playing Candy Cane DuJean in Ruby (1992) and her likeness with Marilyn Monroe)

45. I worked there for two months when I was 19. I needed rent money and they were paying more to stand at the gift shop than I'd have got working at a clothing store. And I thought the costumes were cute. (on her Playboy bunny experience)

46. Audrey's been great for me. She has brought out a side of me that's more mischievous and fun that I had suppressed, trying to be an adult. She has made it okay to use the power one has as a woman to be manipulative, to be precocious. She goes after what she wants vehemently and she takes it. I think that's really admirable. I love that about her. (on playing Audrey Horne in "Twin Peaks" - 1990)

47. They're pushing me to do Howard. Howard's a trip. My friend made me watch the Lesbian Love Connection and I was like: "Oh God, get me out of here!"

48. I try to keep myself centered. I don't go to parties and all that. I don't think being seen or being in the right place is going to make me a better actress. I care about my work and try to do what's right in my heart.

49. I fought to keep the integrity of the story (The Elizabeth Taylor Story) because the producer was bringing in a writer that was making it very soapy. They wanted many scenes of her when she was very overweight. I said: "I'm not doing that. I'll do one. That's not this woman's life." For me it was just: I didn't want to make an impression. I just tried to play the truth of the woman. Not the legend, not the stories that we hear about her. Because even when she was a child, you were seeing a version of her that was manipulated by the studios, so you didn't really see her. I thought the closest she ever came to revealing herself was "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966), and she lost herself in that role. It was cathartic for her to do that in a lot of ways, to let herself be that wild (on portraying actress Elizabeth Taylor in Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story - 1995) 

50. Clara Bow's an interesting actress because back then she was real honest. She was this Brooklyn girl who didn't have a whole lot of class, she'd come right out and say what she wanted. And she ended up leaving Hollywood when she was 26 because all of that had transpired. She was fun, she was just who she was and she got badly criticized for that. When she arrived out here she was like the Madonna of the Twenties: people started dressing like her and doing their hair like her and the whole bit. But then the studios did what they do even now, they started making formula movies - the It (1927) girl pictures - and never allowed her to do anything else. (on silent-screen actress Clara Bow)

51. The world has certain rules - Hollywood has certain rules - but it doesn't mean you have to play by them, and I don't, or I'd be a miserable person.

52. I don't know why people see the (films) that they do. I wouldn't pay to see them, they don't touch me or move me in any way.

53. I loved the script when I read it; it's a wonderful character piece. I saw Ray (Winstone)'s work, like "Nil by Mouth" (1997), and I saw Tim (Dutton)'s work, and I just was really excited to be a part of it. (about "Darkness Falls" - 1999)





54. I'd never read the book ("Of Mice and Men") in school or anything. So when I read the screenplay I just cried my eyes out. I couldn't believe - it was just a beautiful story. When I met with Gary Sinise, he just said: "You know, she's always played - and she was written - as this horrible vamp." And he didn't want her to be that way. He said: "I see her as a sad angel, and lonely." She just wants attention, she wants to be loved, she wants people to talk to her: "What's the matter with you? Why can't you talk to me?" So I was glad that he wanted to do that. He actually added a scene that was never written where she's crying because Curley broke all her records. The only thing she has in life is her little records. So that was a wonderful experience for me, making something like that. (on playing Curley's wife in "Of Mice and Men" - 1992)

55. I liked the hard-core truth of "Rude Awakening". But when I first read it, I was scared of it. Part of me was, like, it's so unattractive! Does she have to vomit on herself? Does she then have to fall in it? God, what's going on here?! But I liked that it didn't glamorize alcohol. And what's admirable about Billie is that she's a straight shooter. She doesn't have a lot of pretense. It's like: "Take me as I am. You like me, fine! You don't, I don't give a damn! There's something quite empowering about somebody who doesn't care what other people think. Billie is learning about herself. She's recognized that she has a problem with drugs and alcohol, and she's trying to straighten it out. (on playing Billie Frank in "Rude Awakening" - 1998)

56. A year in Rome shooting the notorious Cleopatra sounds the most dramatic and fun.

57. All people can sense if somebody's being honest or not. Have the courage to go inside and illuminate and reveal things about yourself.


58. Cheers was frightening, because I was like 19, and I think I had two lines. This big, live audience: I was so afraid, it was awful. But Friends was Friends was fun, but I came out with the feeling that I'm just not a sitcom actress.

59. David Lynch's films are always very long. That's just David loving the projects that he's involved in. I wasn't in the Twin Peaks film very much, but everything that they shot of mine was in there.

60. David really tapped into that suburban paranoia thing that pervades the Northwest that America can identify with even if they can't quite articulate it.






61. Everyone exhibits destructive behavior in one way or another: It can be cigarettes, it could be food, it could be drugs, alcohol, bad men... I wanted to explore that element of a character. And Billie in Rude Awakening laughs her way through all of it.

62. I brought my make-up artist from the States-so one friend along for the ride. But no complaints. I'm really having a good time! The Isle of Man is a little bit difficult, just because I have a three and a half year old and there's not much to do here for him.

63. I didn't have the picket fence childhood, so I always wanted that stability. I don't talk much about that, though, because it hurts my mom.

64. I do Kundalini yoga. You keep your eyes closed through almost all of it, so you're not competing with other people. You're just competing with yourself as you try to get past your mind.

65. I like all kinds of music. I like Kate Bush, Marvin Gaye, Mozart, Vivaldi.

66. I related to the concept of a woman being in a box. She was the most specifically written character that I had played. She intimidated me when I read it, and I knew that it would be an incredible challenge, sort of an inward journey.

67. I used to steal candy and gum in stores. I remember getting caught stealing very young. But then I just got better. In middle school, I started to steal clothes. One time there was a horrible spree and then we never did it again!

68. I was extremely disappointed in the way the second season got off track... it was something that I chose not to be a part of.





69. I wish I looked like Elizabeth Taylor, and with the technicians doing what they do best, I'm sure we can at least get a resemblance, however slight. It would be arrogant to assume that I look like someone who has been pegged as one of the most beautiful women in the world!

70. It's one thing to play a character who is fictitious. It's another thing to fill the shoes of, as you put it, a living legend.





71. Love Life and Just Write are very small films, very small. It's very hard for those kinds of films to bust out.

72. My first film was a thing called Out of Control where I just played this young girl. I had a small role. We shot it in Dubrovnik in Yugoslavia.

73. My mother had met an agent who had spent some time in our house and kept encouraging me. I figured: why not? It looks fun.

74. The controversy with Kim Basinger had nothing to do with me. I have no connection with her whatsoever.

75. The hard part about it was that you could be shooting for eight months and you only lived two days in the life of Twin Peaks. It was like: aargh!

76. They have a way of putting you in a category. I wasn't into playing the Hollywood game. I only responded to certain things.

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