I`m a perfectionist, so I can drive myself mad - and other people, too. At the same time, I think that`s one of the reasons I`m successful. Because I really care about what I do.

I was shocked at the prejudice, voiced in some quarters, over my decision to adopt a mixed-race baby. It`s really surprising that people still put so much emphasis on it. None of us are pure anything. We`re all a mixture. Claudia is a beautiful child, and some of the most beautiful people I`ve seen in the world have been of mixed race. As mother of both an adopted child and my own birth-child, there is absolutely no difference in the huge amount of love I feel for both my children. I always knew I wanted to adopt a child and also have one of my own. There is no difference at all.

Just standing around looking beautiful is so boring.

[On playing her part of Claire Spencer in What Lies Beneath (2000)] "I thought about Drew Barrymore in the first Scream (1996/I) - I mean, ultimately that movie was more funny than scary, but the opening sequence was quite terrifying, and she portrayed terror in a way I`d never seen an actress do."

[On wearing her costume in Batman Returns (1992) for the first time]: "I thought to myself `I can`t move, I can`t breathe, I can`t think. I`m unhappy. I can`t act`."

I look like a duck. It`s the way my mouth curls up, or my nose tilts up. I should have played Howard the Duck.

(From Movieline magazine April 2002) People like Susan Sarandon have paved the way and our window of opportunity expands incrementally year by year. Obviously the kind of roles I`m offered are different than before, but I feel like the roles have only gotten more interesting. I want to grow up to be Judi Dench or Ellen Burstyn. The older we get, the less we work, but look at the work just those two women are doing. It gets deeper.

I have days when I just feel I look like a dog.

[On her role as Velma Von Tussle in "Hairspray"] It`s a lot of fun to play mean and sinister - but you certainly put yourself at risk for scenery chewing. And every once in a while Adam [Shankman, the director] would come over to me after a take and say, `Hey, Michelle - is there a chair leg in your teeth?

Acting`s an odd profession for a young person; it`s so extreme. You work, and the conditions are tough and the process is so immersive, and then it stops, and then there`s nothing. So you have to find ways of making you feel productive when you`re not actually producing anything. For a young person, that`s really challenging.

Somewhere along the line I made the switch and was able to look at the bight side rather than the dark side all the time. Now I look at everything I have and think how lucky I am.

Like all parents, my husband and I just do the best we can, hold our breath and hope we`ve set aside enough money for our kid`s therapy.

I used to smoke two packs a day and I just hate being a nonsmoker... but I will never consider myself a nonsmoker because I always find smokers the most interesting people at the table.

For me, getting comfortable with being famous was hard - that whole side of it, the loss of anonymity, the loss of privacy. Giving up that part of your life and not having control of it.

I have to say this singing was harder than any I`ve done before. The melodies are so fast that you can barely get a breath in. But once I got past the `Oh my God, what have I gotten myself into` phase, it was so much fun to sing again.

Ultimately, I believe the only secret to a happy marriage is choosing the right person. Life is a series of choices, right?

I act for free, but I demand a huge salary as compensation for all the annoyance of being a public personality. In that sense, I earn every dime I make.

[on cosmetic surgery] "If that nose or those jowls bother you, do it! But this epidemic of people losing sight of what looks good, the distortion that has been going on is creepy."

I still think people will find out that I`m really not very talented. I`m really not very good. It`s all just been a big sham.