Quotes from Amy Adams

I'm just grateful I didn't have to spend my early 20s in front of paparazzi cameras.

I'm much more comfortable speaking through my characters' voices than my own.

I thought 'Out of Africa' would be a beautiful ballet.

Perfect isn't normal, nor is it interesting. I have no features without makeup. I am pale. I have blond lashes. You could just paint my face - it's like a blank canvas. It can be great for what I do.

I would say that a lot of the characters I've been attracted to are very vulnerable and they expose themselves emotionally. Not so much in 'The Fighter,' not so much in 'The Master' - I think those are different.

Some of these actresses or public personas who are very public about their disciplined diets, more power to them. I just don't see the point. I'm just not going to be one of those people photographed in a bikini where people are like, 'OMG, look at Amy!' I mean, it might be OMG, but not for the reasons I want.

I'm one of seven kids. That'll keep your ego in check.

I used to have a lot of superstitions, and then I realized that it was kind of hogwash. Once I let go of them, I relaxed a lot.

That's always been my philosophy: I try to just be as straightforward as possible, and then I don't really have to question what I said or regret anything.

I like Cinderella, I really do. She has a good work ethic. I appreciate a good, hard-working gal. And she likes shoes. The fairy tale is all about the shoe at the end, and I'm a big shoe girl.

I'm lucky enough to get really interesting and diverse roles offered to me, and I just hope that that continues. I just want to keep expanding as an artist and really try new things.

Thirty was a big deal for me. It was the age where I reevaluated everything - how I approached life and how I thought about myself. When I look at my 20s, or when I look at any period in my life, I think about how much time I've wasted trying to find the right man.

I watched 'The Muppet Movie' obsessively. I can still pretty much say a lot of the lines and do a pretty mean Fozzie Bear.

Being pregnant finally helped me understand what my true relationship was with my body - meaning that it wasn't put on this earth to look good in a swimsuit.

I think that I've always been attracted to characters who are positive and come from a very innocent place. I think there's a lot of room for discovery in these characters, and that's something I always have fun playing.

How I work is I work from of very character-driven place. And I trust the writers.

I think a lot of times we don't pay enough attention to people with a positive attitude because we assume they are naive or stupid or unschooled.

I like Cinderella, I really do. She has a good work ethic. I appreciate a good, hard-working gal. And she likes shoes. The fairy tale is all about the shoe at the end, and I'm a big shoe girl.

I always had a larger view. I'm interested in real life - my family, my friends. I have tried never to define myself by my success, whatever that is. My happiness is way beyond roles and awards.

I grew up as a Mormon, and that had more of an impact on my values than my beliefs. I'm afraid I will always feel the weight of a lie. I'm very hard on myself anyway. Religious guilt carries over too. You can't really misbehave without feeling badly about it. At least, I can't.

In high school, I was so painfully self-aware that how I thought of myself was probably very different from what other people thought of me. I thought of myself as just painfully awkward and dorky. I had a lot of hair and was kind of weird. I sang a lot in the hallways.

I didn't necessarily fit in in high school. I felt very awkward. I still feel completely awkward and weird in my body sometimes. I'm hoping that's going to go away, but I've just embraced it as reality.

My natural response to a stressful situation is to shut down. I do weird things, like, I don't cry, I get really cold.

That's how I prepare for anything - I read whatever I can get my hands on, talk to people. I'm a bit of a nerd like that.