[on being interviewed during Oscar time] "For four weeks straight I didn`t know what I was doing. It was like I had this little tape in my head and I`d sit there and they all would ask the exact same thing and I`d hit play and I`d be like, `Blah blah ... ` in this monotone and they`d be like, `Are you OK, dear?"`

[on her Whale Rider character] "I think we`re both strong willed and independent, and Pai has a great unique quality about her. She`s an 11-year-old girl who`s confident about who she is and knows exactly who she is. Not many 11-year-old girls are like that. She`s a great role model for young girls. I think I`m like that too."

I`d always wanted to act but it wasn`t just that, it was because all the ladies wore pretty dresses.

It hurt at the time because it`s supposed to be a huge celebration. I was supposed to be able to go, `Wow, I`m having a baby and this is amazing`. I felt like that I had to hide. I felt like it was bad for me to be happy about it. I felt scared in my own home and it was horrible. I should be entitled to walk around my front yard without worrying that these people are watching me.

[on roles she`s been offered since Whale Rider] "They`re all really sexual roles or they all think that I`m still 11. They send me scripts and I say that I`m too young or not old enough and they`re like, `Well just come in and see us.` And so I go in and they`re like, `Oh, you`ve got tall and you`ve got hips and you`ve got boobs.` And I`m like, `Yeah. That`s what happens.`

[on being asked if acting what how she expected it to be] "Definitely not what I expected it to be. All I ever saw were famous people getting what they wanted when they wanted it and I was shocked at the fact that I actually had to work."

[on Whale Rider] "Watching that film made me proud to be a New Zealander."

Your private life should be private. I reckon that`s a good thing that you talk about your work and you talk about what you`re doing, but without having to go into how your brother`s been and how your mum`s been because none of that`s really relevant.

I keep having to pinch myself to make sure I`m actually awake. The Oscars are so big -- they`re huge ... I`m totally humbled and ecstatic. No words are enough to explain ... it`s like, wow. It`s absolutely incredible. - after finding out about her Academy Award nomination

[on her role in Star Wars III] "I was on for 10 seconds and if you see me you`re lucky."

When I found out this was going to be the last Star Wars film that was ever going to be made, I felt pretty privileged to be in it.

[on whether she wants to be an actor when she`s older] "I want to be a science teacher. My friends asked me why, but I`m intrigued by it and I`m quite good at science at school."