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I Used To Feel Like I Had To Be The Best At What I Did, But I Realized I Don't Have To Be The Best. It's So Freeing. I've Never Been This Happy.

-Kirsten Dunst

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I Used To Feel

Kirsten Dunst

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I Used To Feel Like I Had To Be The Best At What I Did, But I Realized I Don't Have To Be The Best. It's So Freeing. I've Never Been This Happy.

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I Feel Like The Feminine Has Been A Little Undervalued. We All Have To Get Our Own Jobs And Make Our Own Money, But Staying At Home, Nurturing, Being The Mother, Cooking — It's A Valuable Thing My Mom Created. And Sometimes, You Need Your Knight In Shining Armor. I'm Sorry. You Need A Man To Be A Man And A Woman To Be A Woman. That's Why Relationships Work.

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I Think You See In People's Eyes What They've Been Through. Anything In Their Lives Shows Up In Their Eyes.

I've Always Had A Process That I Do Before I Even Get To Set Or Go To The Location. I Work Privately, And It Almost Feels Like Therapy Between Me And Who I'm Playing. So I Have This Inner Life That's There And It Gives Me A Confidence, Too, That When I'm Playing The Role I Know Every Question.

So Many Teen Films Are Overproduced And People Are Going To Burnout On The Subject.

For Me, My Favourite Actresses Are Like Charlotte Rampling Or Gena Rowlands... People Who Have Always Stepped Outside Of The Restraints Of A Certain Type Of Woman Or Story. I Always Like Those Movies The Best.

I Love My Snaggle Fangs. They Give Me Character And Character Is Sexy.

Everyone Goes Through A Hard Time In Their Life, They Just Don't Have To Do It In Front Of Tons Of People And With Our Media The Way It Is. I Did, And I'm Lucky That I Had The Resources And The Money To Take Care Of Myself. Now I Love Me, So I'm Ok.

When You Spend Your Entire Life As A Child Actress, Being Told Where To Go And Where To Stand, You're Performing Constantly For People. It Definitely Breeds The Kind Of Person Who's Dependent On Other People's Approval.

After “melancholia” And “on The Road,” I Wanted To Do A Comedy. And I Did So Many Comedies When I Was Younger, But If You’re Not Consistently In Those Movies, People Don’t Always Think Of You For Them.

I Want To Play An Action Hero. I'm Ready For Roles That Totally Aren't Me.

If I'd Trusted Myself And Listened To Myself All The Times That I Ignored Myself, I Would Have Been Fine. But Everyone Has To Learn Their Lesson, And Now I've Got It.

I Think It's Best To Date Someone Who Doesn't Do What You Do.

I'm Not Someone Who Feels Like I Have To Do It The Same Way. I Never Feel Restricted. It All Should Grow Out Of Different Moments And If It Goes Completely Different That's How It Should Go.

I Have Gotten So Many Tickets. I Hope I Don't Get My License Revoked.

I've Never Had A Teenage Rebellion, I'm Not That Type Of Person. I Always Work Out My Problems In A Conscientious Way.

I've Seen 'karma' Slap People In The Face. You Have To Be Good To People. It Really Does Come Around.

I'm Not Someone Who Feels The Pressure Of Someone Else's Expectations. That's A Very Young Way To Feel.

I've Never Been A Major Smoker, But I Think America's View On Weed Is Ridiculous. I Mean - Are You Kidding Me? If Everyone Smoked Weed, The World Would Be A Better Place.

I Think You Either Get Along With Lars [von Trier] Or You Really Don't And I Really Got Along With Him. I Wasn't Scared Because I Talked To Bryce Dallas Howard About Lars.

I Think That Certain Directors Are Better At Choosing Actors That Match Well With Each Other. And I Have Feelings About Actors And Who I Think I'd Work Well With Better Moreso Than Others.

When You Feel Good Is When You're Not Afraid To Feel The Worst.

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You Know How People Say Awards Don't Mean Anything? Hello! I Think The Energy Around Them Makes Everyone Cuckoo.

Doing 'all Good Things' Really Felt Like I Was Acting For Myself Rather Than Anyone Else. It Gave Me A Freedom I'd Never Had Before, Or Knew I Had, To Do Whatever I Want To, And To Argue My Opinions And Not Just Feel Like The Cute Girl On Set Or The Girl In A Boy's Club. I Figured Out How I Could Be Both. And It's Been Different Ever Since.

I Think Vegetarians - For A Lot Of Them - It's About A Lack Of Commitment To Life And Relationships. There Are Some Who Just Like The Fact That They're Controlling Something In Their Life.

I Am Sure I Would Love To Do It Now, But Back Then, I Was, Like, 11 And It Was 'ugh.' There's Nothing Sexual Or Sexy When You're That Age. So I Was Kissing Brad Pitt. So What? He Had Chapped Lips. He Was Lovely And Kind And Sweet To Me, But It Was Just Yuk.

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It'd Be Nice To Feel That Claustrophobic Feeling Or The Anxiety That The Film Melancholia Produces, But For Me I Look At It And Think About What I Was Doing That Day, Where We Shot It... It's Kind Of Like A Weird Memory. It's More A Photo Album Of Memories Than Being Able To Feel Connected To Myself. It's Not Easy To Do.

I Really Think The Key To A Film Is The Chemistry Of People.

I've Been An Rem Fan Since I Was A Little Girl. I Would Jump Around To 'stand' In The Mirror.

I Feel Very Lucky That I Don't Have To Rely On A Man To Give Me Financial Security. That's A Big Deal.

I Just Don't Want To Be The Damsel In Distress. I'll Scream On The Balcony, But You've Got To Let Me Do A Little Action Here.

I'm A Person Who Likes To Hang Out. I Would Never Go On A Blind Date. That Sounds Like The Most Uncomfortable Thing On The Planet Earth. It's Like, 'hi. Nice To Meet You. So, What Kind Of Music Do You Like?' Date Ended.

I Hate Red Carpet Photographs!

I Don't Gossip About Myself.

I Can't Imagine Having A Real Personal Thing, Like Divorce And Marriage, All Those Things, Being In The Public Eye. I Try To Not Talk About Anything Personal, And Then Nobody Has The Fire To Throw Back At You, Like 'you Said This Back Then!'

When You Have A Beanpole Body, Everything Looks Cute. Like Alexa Chung. I Like Her Style, But She's Really Tall And Skinny, So Everything Looks Good On Her.

When I Was Little, I Put On Plays For My Family At Sunday Dinner, And I Would Direct Them And Have All My Cousins, My Brother, And My Best Friends In It. I Was A Very Imaginative And Theatrical Child And Wasn't Afraid Of Being In Front Of A Camera. It Was Like Make-believe To Me.

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You Can Never Get Enough Of 'jeopardy.'

I Was A Very Extrovert Kid. It Felt Normal To Me To Act. I Always Went To Regular Schools. I've Never Been Catty Or A Prima Donna, So I Never Had Problems. I Always Had My Seat At The Cafeteria When I Came Back From Acting.

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You Can Never Control Who You Fall In Love With, Even When You're In The Most Sad, Confused Time Of Your Life. You Don't Fall In Love With People Because They're Fun. It Just Happens.

I Built My Entire Career Off Of Teen Comedies. I Was In 'bring It On'.

I Would Love To Play Marlene Dietrich In A Movie. My Dad's From Germany And So I Feel Like That Would Be A Really Interesting Person To Play.

I Really Wanted The Mtv Award The Most, It Was A Golden Popcorn Container And It Looks Really Neat.

I Love My Snaggle Fangs. They Give Me Character And Character Is Sexy. People Comment, But The Only Person Who Ever Told Me To Fix Them Was My Mom ... I Just Went My Own Way, Like Daughters Do.

What Actor Do You Really Take Seriously Who Becomes A Singer? It's Kind Of Ridiculous. I Can't Think Of Anybody.

I Try Not To Do Scenes A Certain Way, Because Then I Become Conscious Of It, And It Dosen't Come Off As Realistic. I Try To Make It So That I'm Not Really Aware Of What I'm Doing.

I Started When I Was Three Years Old, Doing Commercials And Modeling In New York, I Liked It So Much That I Kept Doing It.

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Confidence Is Very Sexy. You Could Be Not Cute At All And Have Such Confidence.

A Singer Is Someone Who Puts Out An Album. That's A Very Generous Description.

I Was A Big Guns N' Roses Fan When I Was Seven. My Friend Who Lived Across The Street Had Long Dark Curly Hair And I Had Long Blonde Hair, So I'd Dress Up As Axl And She'd Be Slash, And We'd Rock Out In Front Of The Mirror Singing 'patience.'

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I Just Want To Be A Good Friend To People, That's All.

The Hardest Job An Actor Can Do Is All This Pretend, All This Screaming And Being Scared For Your Life.

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It's Hard To Get Lost In A Scene, To Get Into A Character When Everyone's Standing Around You On The Set.

I Didn't Go To Cirque Lodge For Alcohol Abuse Or Drug Abuse.

You Know That Feeling When You Wake Up In The Morning And You're Excited For The Day? That's One Of My Main Goals In Life.

A Lot Of Moms Give Their Kids Line Reads. My Mom Wasn't Put In That Position Because I Always Had An Acting Teacher Helping With The Feelings Rather Than How To Say Something.

I Used To Feel Like I Had To Be The Best At What I Did, But I Realized I Don't Have To Be The Best. It's So Freeing. I've Never Been This Happy.

I've Been Lucky To Find People Who Want To Work With Me, Whom I Respect And Like, But The Truth Is There Aren't That Many Good Projects Out There. And We Make Way, Way Too Many Movies. So It's Not Always Going To Happen With Every Project. But I Try And Wait It Out.

I Think Every Woman Goes Through A Relationship Where She Is With A Guy That Is Really Not Right For Her. You Get Lost In It.

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I Know Kids Are Supposed To Go Through These Awkward Stages, But I Just Never Even Thought About That. I Was Too Busy Worrying About Getting My Education While I Was Working.

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When You Get Older, You Feel Better About Yourself. You're Not Worried What Other People Think About You, In General. You Just Get More Comfortable In Your Skin.

As An Actress, There's A Lot Of Waiting. You Wait For A Script To Come In That You Want To Do. You Get To A Point Where You Decide That If You Want Good Things To Be Made, You're Going To Have To Start Making Them Yourself As An Actress. You Can't Just Wait Around For It. But You Can Also Just Enjoy The Breaks, And Use Them To Kind Of Refuel. I've Been Working So Long At This Point That I Don't Mind The Breaks. I Think They Make Me Better, Actually.

My Favourite Food At The Moment Is Pasta, “with Tons Of Shaved Parmesan On The Side. Not Crumbly But Like The Hunks, You Know What I Meanwhen You Get The Thin Slices.

I Really Want To Do A Film In Another Language. My Dad's From Germany, So It'd Be Really Cool To Do A Film In German. I'm Not Quite Fluent, But I Can Get There. And My Accent's Pretty Good. I Wouldn't Feel Too Out Of My Element.

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I'm The Kind Of Person Who Buys A New Thing, Wears It So Much And Then Is Totally Sick Of It.

On Every Film I Do, Whenever There Are Other Girls My Age, I Think It's Definitely Up To Me To Set The Pace. That's Because I've Had A Lot Of Experience And I Think There's Always A Certain Amount Of Professionalism That Should Be Maintained. If I Was Catty Or Whatever, It Would Just Make The Whole Shoot Unpleasant. And What's The Point Of That?

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Most People Ask Me Questions Based On A Previous Interview. That's Not An Interview. It's Like They're Just Saying My Quotes Back To Me.

When I Have Time Off, My Friends And I Will Go To Universal Studios, The Movies, Out To Eat, And Shopping. I'm Happiest When I'm Just Hanging Out With My Friends... It Really Doesn't Matter What We Do.

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If Everyone Smoked Weed, The World Would Be A Better Place.

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I'd Like To Grow Up And Be Beautiful. I Know It Doesn't Matter, But It Doesn't Hurt.

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Boys Frustrate Me. I Hate All Their Indirect Messages, I Hate Game Playing. Do You Like Me Or Don't You? Just Tell Me So I Can Get Over You.

I Think The Best Thing About My Job Is That I Have My Life Documented, Which Not Many People Get To Have. They Have A Photo Here And There And Maybe Some Video Footage From A Birthday. My Kids Will Be Able To See Me Growing Up.

If I Saw 'virgin Suicides' Or 'eternal Sunshine,' I'm So Proud To Be In Those Movies. They Are Such Great Movies. I Felt So Free On Those Sets.

I Would Love To Work With Quentin Tarantino - He's My Number One. My Ultimate. I Would Love To Work With Paul Thomas Anderson, Alexander Payne - Pedro Almodovar Wouldn't Be Too Shabby. There Are So Many Good Directors, But Those Are Some Of My Favorites.

Rare Are The People Who Can Capture A Human Being.

I Would Have Loved To Have Been In A Hitchcock Movie.

Hitchcock Movie

The Filmmaker Is Really Important To Me: It Could Be Their First Film; It's Not Just About Their Reputation, But I Have To Really Believe In Them.

Everybody Smokes! Models, Actresses, Everyone! Don't They Realize That It's Gross? I Understand It's An Addiction, But It Still Pains Me To See My Friends Do It.

I've Always Used My Own Personal Emotions And Things That I've Gone Through In My Life To Build A Character. The Work That I Do Before A Film Feels Almost Like Therapy, Between Me And Whoever I'm Playing.

I Think That Most Human Beings Go Through Some Sort Of Depression In Their Life. And If They Don't, I Think That's Weird.

I Don't Live In The Spotlight, And I Don't Live My Life In Front Of The Paparazzi. I Live Very Comfortably And Quietly As Possible.

When I'm An Old Lady, I'm Going To Have My Pick Of The Young Men. They'll Be Like, 'she's Miss Mary Jane!' The Young Boys Will Think I'm A Hot Old Lady.

I Would Always Rather Do A Mediocre Script With A Great Filmmaker Than A Great Script With A Mediocre Filmmaker.

Why Would I Cry Over A Boy? I Would Never Waste My Tears On A Boy. Why Waste Your Tears On Someone Who Makes You Cry?

I Don't Find I'm Manic At All. I'm Very Chill.

I Really Just Enjoy Listening To Talk [to John Hurt And Charlotte Rampling]... Not Even About Acting Or Anything. It's Interesting Because I Felt Really Connected To All These People Very Easily. They're All Very Open Emotionally, Like We're In The Scene Together, So You Never Feel Like Anyone's Acting.

I Was Always In And Out Of School. What I Learned In High School Is That Female Friendships Are So Much More Important Than Worrying About Having A Boyfriend Or Looking Good Or Things Like That. I Had Such A Good Girlfriend Growing Up That We Didn't Need Anything. We Had Such A Creative World Of Our Own Imagination Together. For Me, If I Have A Child, I Would Say, "i Hope You Find A Best Friend That Makes It So You Don't Really Need Much But Each Other." Learning About That Type Of Friendship And Trust Is One Of The Best Things I Ever Got Out Of School.

The Real Secret To Total Gorgeousness Is To Believe In Yourself.

I'm Always Looking For That Movie That Feels Like It's Hitting Me Where I Need It.

When You're Little, You're Open To Things. It's Not Like You Get Into This Rehearsed Zone When You're A Child. At First You Play Different Sides Of Yourself. And I Think It Will Be Really Exciting One Day To Have A Character To Go Into That's Not Anything Like Me Whatsoever.

I Don't Want To Be 'box-office Girl,' But I Don't Want To Be 'that Indie Girl' Either.

In Movies, I Hope Women Aren't Always Portrayed As Sex Symbols. People Like Drew Barrymore Are Paving The Way For Girls My Age. Hopefully I Can Pave The Way For Young Actresses, Too.

It's Always Nice When People Appreciate Your Work Because It Means You've Affected Them, Which Is Great. And So That Feels Good.

A Lot Of People My Age, They Grew Up With Me Onscreen. I Think That's Helped Keep A Certain Amount Of Longevity. When You Grow Up With A Person, You Feel Like You Know Them.

I've Always Been Someone Who Is Pretty Hard On Herself. But I've Lightened Up A Lot.

If You're Successful At A Young Age, No Matter The Profession, There Has To Come A Time When You Reevaluate Everything, What It Means To You. 'is This What I Want To Do For The Rest Of My Life?'

The Performances That I Love Are Ones Like Gena Rowlands In 'a Woman Under The Influence,' Where Women Are Allowed To Be Messy And Imperfect. It's That Kind Of Woman That Has Always Inspired Me To Seek Roles That Are A Little Out Of The Box. I Just Haven't Always Had The Opportunity To Do Them.

I Attract A Different Kind Of Boy When My Hair's Red. I Get More Quality Men - Like A More Thoughtful, Nerdy Dude.

It's Nice When The Movie Is Not On Your Shoulders, Too. It's Fun To Do A Smaller Part Sometimes.

Everybody Has A Mean Streak In Them, Don't They?

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I Think For Everyone It's Good To Have Your Own Personal Work On A Character And A Film Before You Even Start Rehearsing, To Have An Inner Life.

Everyone Goes Through A Hard Time In Their Life.

I Don't Really Relate To Myself As The Girl In The Magazine. Which Is Dangerous For Me, Too, Sometimes, Because I Don't Think All The Time, 'well, Look To See If People Are Following Me Home.' Sometimes I'm A Little Bit More Free Than Maybe I Should Be.

You Lose Like Five Pounds Immediately, And Your Face Is Glowing And Gorgeous!

In High School I Had A Boyfriend Who Was Super Into Rap, So I Was Into Too $hort And Wu-tang For A Little While. And My Best Friend's Older Brother Would Sometimes Drive Us Home In This Pimped-out Truck, And He'd Play All His Dirty Rap Music. We Thought We Were Really Cool.

I Feel Like I Could Never Walk Around A Film Half-naked. I Definitely Wouldn't Want To See That.

I'd Like To Be Taller. I'd Like My Baby Fat To Leave.

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