Since I had the baby I can`t tolerate anything violent or sad, I saw the Matrix and I had my eyes closed through a lot of it, though I didn`t need to. I would peek, and then think, oh OK, I can see that.

I knew an actor`s career goes up and down and back up again. Your standing in this business can`t be your whole identity; otherwise, you`re doomed.

Watching a person lose their dignity used to be uncomfortable, and now it`s an expected part of the program that we`re becoming comfortable with.

[about "Friends" (1994)] It was the best experience, an unusually good one in TV. We all got along. The producers were great. It was wonderful being involved. I was extraordinarily lucky.

I wanted to be the kind of woman who would attract a certain kind of man that I could respect. That was my thinking. It had to do with the kind of couple I would be a part of.

In college I castrated 21 rats, and I got pretty good at it.

One fantasy is that I just do a Don Roos movie every year if that`s possible. If he`d have me.

I found the right man, got married, and just had to keep not reinventing myself, just deciding that it doesn`t matter what you are if you are a good person.

I started watching reality shows and being horrified at people signing up to be humiliated in front of the entire country. I saw one show, "The Amazing Race" (2001), in which people were eating spicy soup and vomiting and crying. Why would you do that? Also, I was fascinated by these actors and actresses who would sign up to be followed around by cameras in their life. You become a celebrity, not because of your work or what you do, but because you have no privacy. I`ve been careful to keep my life separate because it`s important to me to have privacy and for my life not to be a marketing device for a movie or a TV show. It`s worth more than that. I`m worth more than that.

Blonde is dumb comedy, red hair is smart, sexy comedy.

We treat sex so casually and use it for everything but what it is-which is ultimately making another human being with thoughts and feelings and rights.

There are some issues I`m more conservative on. As a parent, I`m concerned that there are so many young, young, young kids - like 12 years old - that are starting to have sex.

I`m pretty middle-of-the-road. There are some issues I`m more conservative on.

I`d played dumbasses a lot. On Mad About You, I played a very dumb waitress and they saw me.

On network TV, I`m still Phoebe to people, and it would be hard to convince them otherwise in the bright lights of a sitcom.

[4/06] I think, on network TV, I`m still Phoebe to people and it would be hard to convince them otherwise in the bright lights of a sitcom.

We wanted to do a woman on a reality show because that`s what`s happening right now-it`s part of our culture.

I actually made an effort to reject acting, to shove it out of my body, because I didn`t want my kids to have an actress as a mother-to have, like, a silly person.

We treat sex so casually and use it for everything but what it is - which is ultimately making another human being with thoughts and feelings and rights who will grow up to be an adult.

You become a celebrity, not because of your work or what you do, but because you have no privacy.

Christina Ricci is amazing, the most professional actor I think I`ve ever met. You can be chatting with her and when they call action, she`s right there.

I`ll accept being Phoebe to people for a while longer, given how much fun it was. That`s totally fair.

Shirley MacLaine said, You`re so funny, then gave me a hug. Everything went white. I couldn`t hear, I couldn`t see. I thought I was going to pass out.

I have no affectation when I speak.

I do like reality shows, and I watch some of them because they`re high drama. It`s also just fun to watch people have honest reactions.

I`m the youngest in my family, and everyone is very funny, and I was always trying to keep up with them. I just loved making people laugh.

I`ve been careful to keep my life separate because it`s important to me to have privacy and for my life not to be a marketing device for a movie or a TV show. I`m worth more than that.

For me, doing Wonderland (2003) wasn`t about strategy. The story was compelling, it was written really well, I thought I understood the characters, and I just wanted to be in it. I`ve never gone wrong whenever I`ve done that, and I haven`t done that a lot of times"

An actress, around 40, on television, that`s where you get the most torture, I think.

I`ve learned you can make a mistake and the whole world doesn`t end. I had to learn to allow myself to make a mistake without becoming defensive and unforgiving.

My hair got lighter, and I gradually went blonde. I liked it. Had more fun. But my image of myself in my head is this dark-haired person.