Michelle Monaghan
I'm not too modest of a person. I've got a pretty blue sense of humor.Collection: Humor
I smoked for almost 10 years. I really regret that. Thankfully, I came out on the other side. I hope my lungs are repairing themselves now.Collection: Hope
I have nice muscle tone in my arms. I can't really take credit for it, though - all the members of my family do. A lot of arm wrestling happened in our family growing up!
I will say that 'Source Code' proved to be a very tricky film to shoot.
If you look at 'Breaking Bad,' nothing lacks.
I think if you find that you're making a judgment on the character, than your audience will make a judgment on the character.
It's really challenging to play comedy.
I don't really look like I do in any of my films.
I think there's a misconception, often times, I think society portrays truckers as people who can't get a better job or maybe uneducated, and I think that's a really unfair assessment.
I'm not so Hollywood; I live in New York, so it's very normal. I don't have many friends in the industry. My friends come from all sorts of different backgrounds and careers.
I really want to do good work. I really do. My priority isn't stardom.
I can't imagine anything more debilitating, anything more challenging, anything more thrilling than to get on a stage and do any kind of play. It is such a vulnerable place for any actor to be in.
I live in L.A., so layers are essential to my wardrobe. I like slim silhouettes, typically, and I love good tailoring.
I really believe in less is more in terms of makeup. I try not to wear too much foundation. I like to see my skin coming through. I like to see my freckles. I just think that's the most youthful look.
If I find anything vintage, I'll have it tailored for my body.
I want to be inside Nic Pizzolatto's brain.
As much as I can and am able to, with the projects that are presented to me, I try to just really choose things that are challenging and are something I haven't tackled before.
It's an interesting opportunity to do a long-form character and really have the time to find the nuance over an extended period of time. You can really dig deep.
When I was growing up, my parents took in foster children. From a young age, I learned that there are a lot of children in need.
I am a firm believer that you can make a difference in someone's life - whether they're thousands of miles away, or on your own block.
I come from a very working class background. My dad worked in a factory for 40 years. We all put ourselves through school.
I graduated with a class of 35 people. We had basically just enough people to actually have a play.
I was just fascinated with how everyone else in the world lived, and I was interested in telling their story.
I'm still really fascinated with characters and people and telling their stories.
I really love the festival circuit.
I don't really think too much about special effects because that's not really something I can clearly visualize, so I leave that to the pros.
I think, typically, sci-fi can be a little bit grey and thought provoking. Sometimes it leaves you pondering certain questions and things.
We're all flawed people at the end of the day; I don't know any perfect people.
I think that weird rumor or idea in Hollywood that people don't want to see female-driven movies couldn't be further from the truth. Women buy tickets to movies.
Some days I really love being a mom, and some days I don't! It's crazy - I'm tired of packing lunches!
I will say that is a quality I love about great directors, which is the ability to give you one word that can inspire you. I appreciate a director with a very good vocabulary. There are so many directors that I have worked with that can give you one word.Collection: Vocabulary
I'm a big fan of improvisation but I can't say that I'm great at it.Collection: Improvisation
Everything looks more beautiful in retrospect.Collection: Beautiful
For me, something that's been always really important to me, that's also really served me well in hindsight, is doing different things, trying to cross different genres, and dipping my toes into comedy and drama and action here and there. Fortunately, as I've been working, the industry has also changed where you're able to dip your toes into different mediums, where it's not just independent film and studio film, but now you've got TV, and you're able to do all these different things. For me, it's just a matter of continually pushing myself and challenging myself.Collection: Drama
Woody [Harrelson] and I actually worked together years ago on North Country. So I felt completely at ease.Collection: Country
I have a lot of fun. I'm passionate about what I do. I really love that.Collection: Fun
I grew up Catholic. I'm not religious now but I would say that I'm a very spiritual person and you're always in search of answers.Collection: Spiritual
"OK, well everyone makes a mistake, right?" But then when you think it probably happened again that's when you think: "Shame on you once and shame on me twice, or however that saying goes." But everyone's been down that road. It's not about the little things anymore, but the major things that tell you if you don't move on at that point then I'm a fool.Collection: Mistake
My parents have worked their asses off their whole entire lives, they still do, and I never felt like anything would be handed to me. I never felt sorry for myself. I felt like, "Wow, this is incredible. I'm able to do this for myself." I think once you have that sense of empowerment at a young age and you allow your children to have that empowerment, it will fuel them for a lifetime.Collection: Sorry
I've never felt limited by my circumstances, no matter what they were. Even when I was living in Iowa, it wasn't like I had big dreams, but it wasn't that I felt I couldn't have any. I always felt very capable.Collection: Dream
I want to be inside Nic Pizzolattos brain.Collection: Brain
You dont grow up in a town of 700 thinking youre going to be an actress. I loved doing [school] plays, but it was just something to keep me busy.Collection: Growing Up
So, it was really important that I go do the necessary research. In doing the research, I spent time with a lot of medics and women down at Fort Bliss. I went through an intensive medical course there, with other medics. And then, I really sat down with all of the women that had been deployed, or were getting ready to deploy again. The common thread for them was family, and what a struggle it was for them to come home and face their children and flip a switch.Collection: Children
[True Detective] is an intense show, even in terms of the dialogue - there's a little rhythm to it, in particular in his monologues. I think on those days, he [Woody Harrelson] really had to stay in the zone. Because there's a certain cadence in which that character speaks and talks about life, you know? But then there are other days that he was able to be a little more loose.Collection: Character
It was the first time I worked with Matthew McConaughey [in the True Detective].They're fun guys [with Woody Harrelson]. They don't take life at all too seriously, but yet they take their work very seriously. And both of them are just so committed to character and the story.Collection: Fun
It was very fortuitous that the show [True Detective] actually spans seventeen years - so as I was getting older on the show, I was gaining weight. When I'm playing fifty, I'm ten pounds heavier! I don't know if they thought maybe I was method? But it actually worked to my benefit.Collection: Years
Religion is something that is very well intentioned, for all intents and purposes, for everyone around the world, but sometimes it can start to get warped.Collection: Around The World
We have this misconception about women in the military, that they don't wear make-up, but in reality, they're very feminine women. You can be a tough woman, and still be a very nurturing and emotional parent. It's just not always black and white like that.Collection: Military
I knew that this was something that was going to be an intense experience, just from the way I typically approach my work. I did not take the fact that I was going to portray a soldier lightly. It was so very important to me that I came across as believable and honest and truthful. I wanted to be able to convey the psychology behind the choice of leaving home for an extended period of time, knowing that you may never come back while still being a devoted parent.Collection: Home
I think the first thing is to recognize that there is an ebb and flow to your career. There are going to be moments that are really high, and then you're going to have moments where you step away for a little bit, and maybe that's just by choice or maybe you have a family.Collection: Thinking