Faye Dunaway Quotes

“A good director will only make a good script much, much better but if the script is not good, a good director can't help the script.”

“Acting is different from mental gymnastics. You try to discover as much about the character as you can, but a large area is mysterious.”

“All my life, I've been the kind of person who could shatter easily.”

“Dick Van Dyke is one of the sweetest and funniest men in the world.”

“Fear is a pair of handcuffs on your soul.”

“For a long time, I tried to live up to something that was in people's minds. I don't know what it is they want, nor do they, but movie stars fulfill some lack in people's lives. What I realized long ago is that any time people put you on a pedestal, you're doomed to disappoint. I can't possibly be who they want me to be because, mainly, they want me to answer all their dreams. But we're just people with flaws, insecurities. Maybe more insecurities than anybody else.”

“I always wanted to succeed, to do the best that I could because it puts you in a position of freedom, you see. Then you can choose the road you will take, the way you will live and work.”

“I am desperate and vulnerable. I am always terrified. Beauty can sometimes be so very troublesome.
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“I am furious that they think I'm too old to play the love interest of guys like Jack Nicholson and Clint Eastwood. Why should I play sisters and mothers while guys like Jack and Clint, who are older than me, have on-screen lovers half their age?”

“I am who I am and, you know, I've done the best I can with what I've been given.”

“I didn't think my face was beautiful. I guess I found a lot wrong with it.”

“I don't think of myself as being particularly beautiful.”

“I feel like I'm a beginner in everything in life.”

“I get angry when people push people around.”

“I give myself away all the time – to the men in my life, to the people, to the agents, to the producers, so that I have nothing left.”

“I like being very busy. I think that's the definition of stardom, really. It's energy. It really is.”

“I like to do anything if you don't have to sacrifice quality. That's the key. If you have to sacrifice doing something the best that you can do it, then you start to go crazy.”

“I longed to do great work, and since you must be famous to get those opportunities, I wanted to be famous.”

“I never liked parties, never felt comfortable. I was a little girl from the South and people were terribly judgmental. Oh, I had a hard time. I never felt good enough. I had large insecurities.”

“I really hate talking about Mommie Dearest! It is like an obsession with people! Why do people need to focus so much on one film I made over 20 years ago? It was not a great time in my life and the film was not an experience I want to think about. Period!”

“I regret so much. I've made mistakes. I've hurt people. I've done things I'm not proud of. But on the other hand, that way lies madness, you know?”

“I think I'm a product of the American Dream. My mother came from a very poor farming family, and she wanted my brother and me to achieve. In fact, we're the only two people in our family who are professional people now. My brother's a lawyer in Washington and I'm an actress. I think it's because of my mother, because she kept encouraging us to do our best and to fight, not just to take things as they come. I got straight A's. But sometimes overachievers and people who get straight As miss the trip, miss the process.”

“I think that somehow I got the notion that I had to be successful, to be the best in the world.”

“I think, for better or for worse, people do think that you're like your roles.”

“I want to play real people. Real women. I want to be where the fun is – closer to humanity.”

“I was always interested in people like Lenny Bruce, people who are breaking the old rules and making new ones.”

“I was very determined. The straight A girl. I wanted to succeed. Driven. Let's face it: very driven.”

“I will never forget the moment, and the feeling, when I heard my name. It was, without question, one of the most wonderful nights of my life. The Oscar represented the epitome of what I had struggled for and dreamt about since I was a child. The emotional rush of getting this accolade, the highest one this industry can award you, just hit me like a bomb. It was the symbol of everything I ever thought I wanted as an actress.”

“I would like a partner but I can see myself without a marriage. I'd love to have someone to sit and talk with and walk on the beach with at 80.”

“I'm kind of a recluse.”