"My body is so important to me... my face, my arms, my legs, my hands, my eyes, everything. I use everything I have."
"When I eat with my friends, it is a moment of real pleasure, when I really enjoy my life."
"I come from a Catholic religion, but I`m not Catholic."
"I didn`t have familiarity with children. I`m learning day after day, with her. And what impress me the most is that she, Deva, is an individual person. But in miniature, she seems to be a special effect." - talking about her daughter Deva.
"After love, the man sleeps, while the woman reflects."
"Beauty becomes alive and interesting when it`s habited."
"Being an actress is the sublimation of feminity."
"The human intelligence has progressed at the technological level; not a the level of feelings."
"It is a handicap if you`re stupid, but not if you are intelligent and know how to use your beauty."
"I feel fine and comfortable with myself, but not because I`m beautiful. I know many beautiful people and their lives are just so terrible. They feel so uncomfortable with themselves. Being comfortable is not about what you look like, but how you feel. I`m a lucky person because I`ve been loved a lot. I have a great family."
"Acting is not words. Holly Hunter didn`t speak in The Piano (1993) and she won an Oscar".
"I live in Paris but I feel I am a daughter of Europe."
"When I`ll be old, I`d rather watch my children than my films."
"My career, at the moment, is very exciting, but love comes first because it balances me."
"I listen to "young" music, the one from my age. I adore soul, rap and funky."
"Vincent was so incredible, so sweet. When we went to Cannes for the film, you know the moment when I come out from the tunnel and we see me for the first time completely with blood all over, he was crying. I said, `Vincent, come on. It`s just a movie. We know it`s not real." (on her husband`s support when Irréversible (2002) was released).
"As a European, I need to stay in Europe and I make Italian movies, French movies. Then to come to America is something interesting for me."
"I think this is something that touches every country - America, Italy, France, England, all over. You will see all these people, they don`t know how to sing, they don`t know how to dance, and still they become famous. You know, just celebrities. And I think this is a very dangerous process." (about real TV).
"This is what I like about America, because you have very big budget movie, and also independent movies, so you have many different choices. But I know that I`m European... Being European, it is not easy to find the right project, because you may look different, you sound different, and you have to find the right character."
"As a woman I am so curious about prostitutes because of the idea that they know men better than you. Also, it`s such a strange way to live. But at the same time there are prostitutes who just want to be prostitutes, and this is this woman, nobody pushed her to do it. She`s a prostitute because she wants to be a prostitute. It`s her philosophy of life."
"I`m not scared by nudity, because for me, nothing is more beautiful than a body. You can have such an amazing emotion from a body. In Irréversible (2002), I treated my body like it was an object and it`s great when you can have this kind of relation with your body, it`s a part of your job, an object you can work with. When you can have this kind of freedom it`s the moment where you can give your best as an actress".
"In 10 years I`ve done so many things. In the beginning I didn`t know if I was still a model, if I was an actress. I knew I wanted to be an actress, but it was so difficult to be believed. Now things are going better and better and the proposals I have are much more interesting than five years ago. It`s like getting older is getting better."
"Maybe the reason I work a lot is because each director thinks that I`ll be better with him. Maybe the moment where I`ll be completely accepted I won`t work any more."
(Talking about why she will not move to Hollywood to further her film career): "I could never live there. They are obsessed with youth and beauty even more than us. There is this thing in America where actresses reach 40 and go mad. The film industry wants all these young people. They also like a different sort of woman (to me). I will never be skinny. I also had a child a year ago, and I have been lazy. I love to eat. Who cares? I am natural."
If you have a script that`s not great, if you have a great director, you can make a great movie, but if you have a great script with a director who`s not good, never are you going to have a good movie.
When I make an American movie it`s going to come out all over the world-it doesn`t happen the same way for an Italian film or a French film.
Sometimes it`s more difficult to exist as a female lead, especially in action movies because all those men are around you. They take so much place.
When I have to go to Cannes, that is boring to me.
Mel is a great director because he`s not just a director, he`s an actor, so he knows how to direct actors. I loved working with him. He`s great as a director. He`s so intelligent. He`s generous. I really loved him.
Irreversible is not glamorous at all. I try to do different things because I want to grow as an actress and I like to take risks.
When you`re in front of the camera, for a small budget or a big budget movie, there`s no difference.
I believe that time destroys everything. You can take one beautiful apple, red. After a while, it becomes shrivelled and full of worms, just like what happens to us.
In acting process, it`s very difficult to explain. It`s something very intimate, very private.
I think the lawyers are such incredible actors. Can you imagine the performance they have to do every day?
An actor works with their soul and their thought.
I`m a lucky person because I`ve been loved a lot. I have a great family.
I know many beautiful people and their lives are just so terrible. They feel so uncomfortable with themselves. Being comfortable is not about what you look like, but how you feel.
After a while in marriage, it doesn`t work anymore. There is something missing, there is something wrong. There are few marriages that stay alive forever. We like something, and after a while, we hate what we used to love.
It`s not the Jews that killed Christ. It was a political situation, and it was the Romans who killed Jesus. They put Jesus on the cross, not the Jews.
When you see a silent movie, you understand everything that`s going on from the images because the images are so strong.
Envy is human nature.
We all need illusions. That`s why we love movies.
Time destroys everything.
In a couple, sometimes, one or both people have to give up their personal life, dreams and ambitions for the good of the family.
I`m not a movie star. I`m just an actress.
I have no idea how I`m perceived in America because I don`t live the reality of America.
I feel fine and comfortable with myself, but not because I`m beautiful.
When people divorce, it`s always such a tragedy. At the same time, if people stay together it can be even worse.
Now, all the movies are for teenagers. It`s very difficult for an actress to find really deep, beautiful characters to play.
When a relationship doesn`t work anymore, it`s terrible to stay with someone that you don`t love.