I was just thinking of James Dean and Marilyn Monroe and how young they were when they died. I would like to be a pop icon who survives. I would like to be a living icon.

And now after all this time I finally figured out how to trap him... I will become him.

He lives with his creativity in high gear.

You just activated a nuclear warhead, my friend.

So you know what I`m gonna do? I`m gonna do something really outrageous, I`m gonna tell the truth.

It`s hard to make a cultural phenomenon every time.

I have to believe there`s some other life force out there. I don`t know in what form. But we can`t have all these galaxies and universes without something going on.

Of his role as "Edna" in Hairspray (2007): It was tough dancing in high heels, but we did change the heels to more of a dance shoe-like a Capezio. You know they kept giving me these skinny high heels and it`s like `Okay, I understand those. My mother wore those` However, when I was growing up and I saw girls in the chorus, they had a thicker heel and it was a dance shoe and I kept telling them to find those shoes. I knew they existed, and finally they brought out a shoe and I said `That`s the shoe! Now make it in many colors`.

I will direct one day, but I have a feeling that it will be very limited.

There are unwanted emotions and pain that goes along with any birth.

As you get older you have to force yourself to have new dreams. For instance, I`ve been flying for 37 years but now teaching others to fly is interesting for me. Sometimes you have to find new angles on life to keep you interested, like sharing successes and inspiring and helping others. You have to go out of your way to activate your dreams and keep them going in this third chapter of your life.

When they asked me to be Edna Turnblad I said, `Gee, 32 years as a leading man… why me? What makes you think I`d be the perfect woman?`

There is nothing gay in this movie (Hairspray (2007)). I`m not playing a gay man. Scientology is not homophobic in any way. In fact, it`s one of the more tolerant faiths. Anyone`s accepted.

"I have fame on the level of a Marilyn Monroe or an Elvis Presley, but part of the reason I didn`t go the way they did was because of my beliefs. People make judgments about Scientology, but often they don`t know what they`re talking about".

[On his role in Carrie (1976)]: I wanted to work with Brian De Palma. I knew the film would be interesting and attract a lot of attention.